Chuck vs the Bag
by irishdragon12000
Summary: What happens when Chuck see's something that Sarah isn't ready for him to see. Season 1 au
1. Chapter 1

_A/N hello this is a new one that popped into my head. AU set after the Marlin but before S2. I was interested in what would happen if Chuck saw something in Sarah's apartment that he wasn't supposed to._

Sarah Walker was sick down with the flu, at least she hoped it was just the flu, as she kneeled clutching the toilet after last nights dinner found its way out of her, by retracing its steps. She had spent the previous 72 hours trying to keep Chuck out of the custody of both the CIA and Fulcrum, and everything that comes along with being the personal protector of Chuck Bartowski. Her latest adventure involved fighting agents from both respective entities, falling off a ten story building, and finally swimming inside of a dumpster trying to find a diamond ring.

Confident enough to get on her feet, and after splashing some water on her face, she made her way into her darkened bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Her head pounded and her stomach felt like someone was using it like a trampoline. She reached for the aspirin that was on her nightstand and knocked over her tissue box.

"Son of a bitch," she said as she reached down to retrieve her tissues.

She was about to put them back on the table, when she spied the picture that was under the glass, where the box was previously placed. She stopped when she saw the big stupid grin, and even though he was responsible for this death flu that was gripping her, she couldn't hide the slight smile that came to her face.

 _He was safe and he was still with me..._ she thought.

Sometimes we never know when a seminal moment hits us, but Sarah Walker knew something changed in her the day she met Chuck. She thought back to that fateful day as she looked at the picture. She had made contact with him and arranged to go out on a date with him, but something about him was different, or maybe something about her was different. Spies don't live long unless they cover their ass, so she had installed a hidden camera outside of her apartment, which nobody knew about. She was reviewing the camera data the morning after Chuck diffused the bomb when she saw it.

The camera had managed to capture Chuck's image from the night before when he came to take her on the date. The exact second that was captured was when she first opened the door and his expression was priceless. He looked like a kid who just got his puppy on Christmas morning, and for some reason she needed to keep the picture. She didn't really know when or how it got it's way below the glass of her nightstand, but she found herself looking at it every night before she went to bed. There was something about it that always made her smile, and made her feel better about herself.

She was not accustomed to this feeling, and quite frankly it scared her. Spies needed to be cold and hollow, unfeeling and without mercy. Sarah defined herself in this world and needed to have an edge to operate the she did and be ready at anytime to burn anyone, despite any attachment. That kind of life takes a psychological toll on a person and makes them start to resent others and themselves, turning them into bitter defective human beings, living only to exploit another's misfortune for some kind of gain. This behavior is encouraged in this world and cloaked in the axiom "the greater good" as a way to rationalize it to yourself. To many people that feeling would be depressing, but to Sarah it was almost comforting, because it told her she still had her edge, and could still operate in this world. Felling good about herself was alien to her, but since she met Chuck, feeling good about herself was becoming more to her. She looked at the picture again and smiled when she saw how happy he looked at just seeing her open the door. Sure it was before he knew who she really was, but the expression on his face has greeted her many times since then.

She had more fun just talking to Chuck then she ever had with any other person. He wanted to know about her, he didn't care about Agent Walker, he cared about Sarah and that more then anything else led her to do something she thought she would never do. She began to trust him, and that was what really scared her. She was a seasoned agent who was trained not trust anyone because trust will get you killed, but she couldn't help herself, she trusted Chuck. This was so scary to her because she knew deep down that she couldn't trust herself with him anymore, that the "greater good" was outweighed by Chuck's greater good.

The change in Sarah's priorities began to manifest itself subconsciously in her early on. First she refused to seduce Chuck during their first few days together. Graham had ordered her to get close to him and find out any information he had, and she would normally do this by seducing him. She was prepared to do that the night of their date, but once again, Chuck had thrown her a curve. His expression when she opened the door that night was what initially stopped her in her tracks, and as the night wore on she found herself enjoying the date more and more.

She knew she could seduce him or any man she needed to, but with Chuck she didn't want to. Of course she was attracted to him, but she didn't want to ruin him. He was different from a mark, or a mission, and as she continued to enjoy herself she saw him for what he really was to her that night, her first date. She thought back to how close she and to blowing it that night, and was actually relieved that Casey showed up, because if she hadn't then she had no idea what to do. It stopped being a mission to her over dinner, and he stopped being an asset to her over dancing. Was it love? Sarah didn't know, but it was defiantly a big change. Carina had noticed the change in her the last time she was here and they were at dinner together, and although Sarah denied it to her, she knew her friend was right.

"You're only fooling yourself Sarah," she said.

"What do you mean Carina?"

"You know what I mean."

"C'mon Sarah. Chuck? Really?"

"What the hell are you talking about," Sarah said with more then a hint of annoyance.

"You are in love with Chuck."

Sarah couldn't immediately respond, but her substantial blush was all the evidence that Carina would ever need.

"No I'm not!"

"Oh bullshit. Listen if it makes you feel better he is in love with you," Carina said with a smile.

"What? No he's not he understands the situation," Sarah replied as her heartbeat quickened.

"Yes he is and I can prove it," Carina said.

"Carina just stop alright. We are just cover nothing more," Sarah said.

Carina saw the hurt look in Sarah's eye and knew that she had hit the mark. Her friend was in love and from the looks of how possessive and protective she was of him, very much in love. The rest of the conversation turned into girl talk and good-natured teasing but Carina put the "L word" out there, and Sarah couldn't help but feel a little quiver in her heart when Carina told her about Chuck's feelings.

Sarah could try to deflect all she wanted, but it wasn't just a mission parameter that called on her to almost kill a fellow agent, fall off a 20 story building, and search through a dumpster for a diamond ring. She wasn't sick today because of anything she did for her country, she was sick because she was protecting the man she loved. She couldn't allow him to be taken from her, nor from his family. Even though it was probably best for the intersect, it wasn't best for Chuck and that was where her loyalty now rested. She tried to close her eyes and go to sleep, and as her head pounded and stomach flipped; she slightly smiled knowing that her present condition was more then worth it, just to see his smiling face again. She was just about to doze off when she heard her phone buzz, signaling an incoming text and she knew instantly who it would be.

 _Casey told me you were sick..how do you feel?_

 _Rotten._

 _Sorry. Was it the dumpster you think?_

 _Among other things._

 _I will be by to check on you after work_

 _You don't need to it's fine_

 _Nonsense it's no trouble. I will make you some soup and Ellie for me some medicine for you_

 _ok thanks_

 _No problem :) 'get some rest._

 _Will do._

Sarah smiled after the exchange and closed her eyes, hoping to be able to sleep.

Six hours later she awoke to 3 missed phone calls from Chuck and a banging on her door, and slipped off the bed and wrapped herself in a robe, then made her way over to the door.

"Hi...oh Sarah you look sick," Chuck said as he was holding the soup.

"Thanks very much," she replied.

"Oh sorry I meant that you must feel awful," he replied.

"Thanks again," she replied.

"I brought soup," he said trying desperately to dig himself out of the hole he dug.

"Thanks," Sarah said smiling as she moved inside and he followed closing the door behind him.

"Why don't you just relax and I'll make the soup," he said as he headed toward her kitchen.

"Sounds good," Sarah said as she plopped on the bed and back under the covers.

He grabbed a saucepan and put it on the stove, the opened the soup and began to warming it, while rummaging through her refrigerator trying to find something to add to the soup.

"Sarah your refrigerator is worse then any bachelor known to mankind. You have any vegetables or anything bland?"

"Just what's in there," she replied tiredly.

"Well I need to give you crackers or something with the soup. You need to have something in your stomach bland so you can keep it down," he said as he looked through a collection of take out boxes,

"In the cabinet," she called.

"Got them."

A few minutes later Sarah heard some commotion and Chuck came out of the kitchen carrying a tray over to her bed.

"Now sit up. Here you go soup in bed, "he said with a laugh as he set up her tray.

"Chicken soup, crackers and ginger ale. Flu food, guaranteed to be as bland as me," he laughed.

"Thank you," she replied laughing.

"Wow it smells good. I'm really hungry," she said as she picked up a spoon.

"Well just eat slow, and you need to take your pills that Ellie gave me with something in your stomach," he said as he sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"Yes sir," she replied as she took a spoonful and let it slide down her throat.

"How are you feeling? Are you sore?"

"Not too much, a little achy but nothing major," she replied.

"That's good. Casey has been a little slice of heaven since you have been sick."

"Really?"

"Yeah he seems to like his lunch hour to himself," Chuck replied.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he told me I like my lunch hour to myself."

Sarah laughed hard, setting off a chain reaction, which caused her to break into a coughing spell, inhale the soup, and push the soup out of her nose.

"Oh Sarah sorry," Chick said as he got her napkin.

"It's fine," she said as she calmed down.

"Just don't make me laugh again," she winked.

"I promise," Chuck smirked

They talked a bit more while Sarah worked on more of her soup, and although she tried to resist, she found herself laughing and spilling most of her soup all over herself. He cleaned the dishes and went to get her pills, while Sarah got a message on her phone from Casey.

 _Given a priority assist mission by the general tonight. Can you watch Bartowski?_

 _Sure_

 _Good deal..behave yourself Walker_

 _Bite me Casey_

"Here we go," Chuck said as he came in carrying her pills and a big glass of water.

"Thanks," Sarah said as she downed the pills and the water.

"Chuck I got a message from Casey."

"Do we have a mission, because the general would understand your sick...,"

"No it's nothing like that. He can't watch you tonight so you will have to stay with me. If you don't mind," Sarah said sheepishly.

"Sarah you are sick I planned on staying here with you tonight anyway to take care of you."

"You did," she asked with a little smile.

"Yeah..well..Ellie knows and it would be good for the cover," Chuck said as he turned beet red.

"Oh right," she said with a tinge of disappointment.

"Ah well how about we get you in the shower."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh no not me! Not you and me! You and you...I mean..why don't you take a shower and I will help you."

"Help me," she smiled.

"No not help inside! I mean...I will run..,"

Sarah started laughing hysterically on the bed.

"You are so cute sometimes," Sarah said.

"Huh," Chuck replied.

"You are so funny sometimes," she quickly corrected.

"This medicine is getting to me," she laughed.

"I'll go run your shower and get you some fresh clothes," he said as he helped her up.

"Thanks. I have my extra robe in the garment bag in my closet," she said as she took off her robe.

"Hey that's a nice shirt," Chuck said as he saw Sarah draped in pajama bottoms and one of his old t-shirts.

"That's why I like it. It's soft," hurry up chuckles," Sarah said as she made her way to the shower.

"Chuckles? Sarah are you ok," Chuck asked.

"Yes. Just put my new clothes by the door, and no peaking mister," she slurred through the bathroom door.

"Ok. Then you gotta get to bed. I think the medicine is making you drunk," 'he replied as he went into her closet.

He found a new pair of pajama bottoms, underwear, and, surprisingly another one of his t-shirts in her closet, but he couldn't find the robe.

He hears the shower finished and put the clothes by the door. A second later the door opened and Sarah brought the clothes inside.

He heard the sound of laughing coming from the bathroom.

"Everything ok in there?"

"Yeah. I just realized that you were in my panties," Sarah laughed drunkenly as she opened the bathroom door.

"It's ok Chuck I don't mind," Sarah laughed as she saw a visibly red and embarrassed Chuck.

"I couldn't find your robe," Chuck said as he helped her to the bed.

"Chuck it's in the garment bag," she moaned as he headed back to the closet an she slid under the covers.

"On the first or second shelf," he called.

"On the lower shelf. Next to your bag," she replied sleepily.

"My bag? I don't have a bag here," he replied.

 _She must be out of it and thinking of Bryce_ Chuck thought and he went back to the bedroom just as Sarah was almost out.

"Sarah just get some rest I think your thinking of Bryce. I don't have a bag here," Chuck said as his mind suddenly flashed with images of Sarah and Bryce together.

"No Chuck...you..not Bryce it's always been..you," Sarah slurred.

"But Sarah, I don't have a bag here," he said softly

"Yes you do. It's the bag I made for you," she replied.

"Why would you make a bag for me?"

"Because Carina is right," she replied as she faded off to sleep.

"Sarah? Sarah," Chuck said.

He got no response, so he gently tried to wake her up.

"What," she said startled.

"Sarah why did you say Carina was right?"

"Yes Chuck Carina is right! Now go to sleep," she said as she slipped back into dreamland and began snoring loudly.

 _What bag? Carina right about what?_ Chuck thought as he looked at her and quietly made his way to the closet.

He opened up the doors and started scouring the bottom shelf and found her garment bag, but couldn't find anything that looked like it was for him. He looked up and down each row and shelf, but all he found was Sarah's extensive wardrobe. He was on his way out, when he banged his head on top of the closet rail and knocked it off.

"Shit...what the," he said as he leaned down to pick up the rail and saw out of the corner of his eye, a small panel open in the closet wall.

He crawled to the open panel and looked inside, there were two bags stacked nearly inside, with a clear plastic bin on top. He fished his hand in and pulled out the bags and bin, bringing them into the light of the living room.

"Jesus Christ," he said as he opened the plastic bin and saw more money then her ever saw in his life.

Stacks of hundred dollar bills, an even some thousand-dollar bills piled high and deep, the total value easily in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. He put the money back in and opened the first bag, it was filled with women's clothes and cosmetic products, including hair dye. He opened the side pocket and a multitude of different forms of identification and passports fell out. They had different names and languages on them, but the picture was always the same, it was Sarah.

"Sarah what the hell," he said as he looked through the various materials.

She had light hair in some and dark hair in others, and was every nationality from Australian to polish, but it was always her. He opened up the last bag and found an identical set up to Sarah's except this bag was for a man, an the pictures in the identification materials were all of him.

"What? How did she get these pictures," he said as he looked through pictures of himself with varying shades of hair color and length.

The pictures looked like they had a time range from his high school graduation, to his current buymore photo ID, and looked like they were computer enhanced to change hair color and weight. It took him a few hours to go through everything and as the first rays of daylight hit the window, he was still deep in thought.

 _In the garment bag next to your bag...The bag I made for you...Carina was right Chuck...the bag I made for you...Carina was right Chuck...I made the bag to take you away and keep you safe when they come for you...I made the bag because Carina was right Chuck...I love you.._

"Whaaaa...," Sarah said as she awoke with a start.

She sat up and began to think through the haze of the last few hours and suddenly her eyes went wide.

"Oh shit..please god no..not yet," she said as she got up and silently crept out of the bedroom

"I gotta put this back," he said as he started fumbling to put everything back into the bags.

"Chuck?"

"Sarah I was just...,"he said as he turned to see Sarah standing above him.

"We need to talk," Sarah said as she looked down at him.

"Yeah I think we probably do," he replied.


	2. Chapter 2

A _/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. Thanks for all the reviews they do serve to spur me on_

Casey stood alone in castle, as Graham and Beckman came on the screen. He was unsure of what was going to be discussed, but he had a pretty goo idea of what it was, as he was ordered not to tell Sarah or Chuck about the briefing.

"Major thank you for your discretion in regards to the privacy request for this meeting," Beckman said.

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

 _Here we go...they are going to ask me if I have seen anything suspicious going on with Walker and Bartowski...I should burn their assess..._ he thought and smiled to himself.

"Major we called this meeting to inform you that the new intersect will be online within the month. Once it finished up Beta testing it will be fully operational and this part of the human intersect project, as well as your current assignment will be finished," Beckman said.

Casey knew that the new intersect was being built, but was a little surprised to hear it was happening so soon. He was under the impression that it was still very much in development.

"Yes ma'am that's wonderful news," Casey replied.

"Yes it is Major. Agent Walker and yourself have done a great service to your country and will have your pick of assignments," Graham said.

"Thank you sir. I know Bartowski is looking forward to having the intersect removed and...,"

"That won't be happening Major," Graham interrupted.

"I don't understand sir? With the intersect still in his head, and without protection, he is a liability."

"You are correct Major, but unfortunately we have been unsuccessful in our attempts to develop a way to successfully remove the intersect. So...,"

"Is there another way ma'am," Casey asked Beckman as he quickly realized the direction this was going.

"I'm sorry Major, but once the new intersect is online, Mr. Bartowski is to be terminated," Graham said.

"But ma'am...,"

"Is there a problem Major? We came to you with this assignment because it needs to be done correctly. I share your reservations but we cannot allow the knowledge in Bartowski's head to be compromised. If you are unable to do it I can assign another team to it," Graham barked.

"No sir that won't be necessary. You can trust me to always follow my orders," Casey replied as he fixed them both with a steely glare.

"Very well. We will update you when you are to proceed," Graham said as the screen went blank.

Casey stood in silence as he contemplated what to do next, and for the first time in his professional life he was torn. He didn't want to kill Chuck, but he knew if he refused they would send someone else, and maybe even kill himself and Walker as well. Walker would be another issue. He knew that she was just a little too interested in Chuck for him to be just an assignment to her, but he needed a way to find out just how far gone she was. If he was wrong about her then she could report him to the superiors and he would most likely be terminated with the asset; on the other hand, if she really was in love with Chuck what would she be capable of to protect him? All these thoughts swirled in his mind as he climbed up the steps and headed to his car. Once inside he got out his encrypted phone and dialed a memorized number, which was picked up after 2 rings.

"It's me. The order came down. I need your help," he said as he heard the unfamiliar sound of panic in his voice.

"Sarah am I in trouble?"

He never knew such a simple question could have such a chilling effect on him, but Chuck had blow past nervous and was now downright scared as he tried to read Sarah's body language. She hadn't answered him, she just looked at him sadly for a second and then began acting very strange, at least for her. He had never seen Sarah look, let alone act, unglued; but as she paced back and forth, that was exactly how she appeared. After discovering the two bags in the hidden compartment of her closet, he found himself sitting on the bed, as she almost wore a hole through the carpet.

Sarah exhaled deeply as she thought about what to do next. She was tired of so many things associated with the spy life, but most of all she was tired of the lies. Chuck was in danger and that terrified her. She knew all along what fate held for him after this assignment was over, and almost from the first day, found herself thinking about a way to stop it. She thought back to how it all began, and almost smiled as she realized now how quickly she fell for him and how over protective she became..

 _It began innocently enough, when after about a month into this assignment, she decided to have a few extra id's made up for herself in case things went south. She never really trusted Graham, and therefore always had a safe house and a change of identity safely hidden away, in case he tried to burn her. The forger was an "off the books" contact she had and used regularly and did exceptional work, which was completely untraceable. He was a bit of a paranoid burn out and hated to use cameras, because a modern digital picture left a sheen on the photograph which was difficult to minimize, and could lead to detection. He insisted that she provide a picture, so she handed him the one she kept in her purse._

 _"One for him too," the forger asked._

 _"Huh?"_

 _"One for your boyfriend too," he said as he flipped it over revealing a picture of herself and Chuck at one of his sisters parties._

 _"Oh wait that's the...," she said as she rifled through her purse trying to find one of just herself, but she didn't have one, as a matter of fact that was the only picture she had with her._

 _"No that's the right one. Yes please one for him too," she covered._

 _"Ah a couple in love," the he joked as he went about his work._

 _Why had she kept the picture? Even if it was for the cover nobody really keeps pictures of their assignment on them at all times..she thought._

 _"Here you go all done. Mr. and Mrs. Lomax of Green Bay Wisconsin," the forger said an hour later as he handed her the two new id's._

 _"Thanks very much," she said as she paid him his money and left._

 _She fully intended to throw Chuck's id out, but somehow just couldn't do it. Over the next few weeks she found herself making more for him, and a few months later, she had his bag ready._

She looked at him and wished for maybe the millionth time, that she could have been honest about her feelings with Chuck from the start; and that maybe she would have had him safely hidden by now, but it was an alien concept in her world. It had been drilled into her that honesty was dangerous and would get you killed, so lies became the norm. It was almost comical to her now when she first asked him to trust her, because she never intended to be honest with him.

She had learned that it was possible to trust a partner, like Bryce or even Casey, but not be honest with them about things. Chuck had changed her for the better in so many ways and was the only man that she ever met that truly deserved her honesty. His life depended on her now, and she needed him to trust her more then ever, but she needed to trust him too. She needed to be honest with him, and not just about this, but about everything. She didn't like talking about her emotions or feeling, but she resolved to tell him how she really felt and finally put an end to all the bullshit.

"Yes Chuck," Sarah finally said.

"Huh," he responded unsure of what he heard.

"Yes Chuck you are in trouble," she replied as she stopped pacing and turned her attention back to him.

"Look I don't need to know what the bags are for. We can just pretend that I never saw them, or the money," he said nervously.

"No that's not going to work," she said slowly.

"Oh God," Chuck exclaimed nervously as he looked at Sarah, who immediately saw the look of panic on his face.

"Oh hey calm down," she said as she rushed to his side.

"I'm sorry Sarah I didn't know about the bags..the medicine made you a little drowsy and I ...," was as far as he got before Sarah silenced him with a kiss.

"Ok not where I thought this was going," Chuck said when she broke the kiss.

Sarah laughed at his response and kissed him again.

"What did you do that for," a thoroughly confused Chuck asked.

"I wanted to," Sarah replied.

"Sarah what is going...,"

"Chuck I need you to listen to me for a few minutes," Sarah interrupted.

"Ok. Sure just let me know..,"

"You need to be quiet and just listen first, can you do that," she said.

"Yes."

"Ok good, because I need to tell you some things that you need to know about, and I need you to trust me," she replied.

"I do trust you Sarah, you know that," he replied.

"Please don't interrupt until I'm finished. Chuck I made the bags because you are in danger, ever since Bryce stole the intersect the government had been working on another...,"

"That's great," Chuck chimed in.

"No Chuck it's not. Please listen," she replied

She explained what would happen when the new intersect came online, and though he would not be needed anymore, he would still be viewed as a threat to national security due to the secrets in his head. She told him that he would most likely be thrown into a bunker, but deep in her heart she knew that he would be terminated. She watched his expression go from confusion to fear as she painted the scenario, and when she was finished, waited for his questions. He was quiet for a few minutes before he finally digested enough to process what would happen.

"What would they tell my sister," he asked.

"Probably that you would be transferred by buymore at first and then...,"

"That I was dead?"

"Yeah," she replied sadly.

"Sarah that would kill her! Why are they going to do this to me?"

"It's the way they think Chuck. It's easier for the families to move on if they think the person is dead," she said.

"I can't believe this...wait a minute," Chuck said as he stood up.

"You said if the person is dead. Sarah if I'm of no use to them why...oh god they would wouldn't they? Oh God Sarah they are going to kill me," Chuck said as full-blown panic set in.

"Chuck calm down," she said as she got up and tried to approach him.

"I can't Sarah! What am I going to do? Oh God!"

"Chuck listen," she said as she grasped his head between her hands.

"I need you to calm down and trust me. I will never let anyone hurt you," she said firmly.

"But Sarah...wait ...why you telling me this? Aren't you going to get into trouble too? Wouldn't they go after you if they found out you told me?"

"Chuck just stop! I need you to calm down and listen to me! I promise that I will answer all of your questions, but there is more that I need to tell you so sit down. Do you hear me," she said.

"Yes," he said as he sat down.

"Good. Now Chuck I'm not good at this part, but I need to tell you everything," she said with a sad look.

"Chuck I need to be honest with you and I need you to trust what I am about to say to you because it is the truth, and please just hear me out before you interrupt. Ok?"

"Yes."

"I've been trained to lie my whole life, first by my father and then by the agency; so I would understand if you have some doubts about what I am about to tell you, but I want you to know that what I am about to tell you is the honest truth."

"Ok," Chuck replied with a bit of concern.

"Chuck when I first met you I was in a very dark place, my life, if you could even call it a life, was a mess. I was a hollow person and I hated myself, hated what I had become. The pain was so much that...I was almost...I almost wanted...I wanted to get killed so I wouldn't have to deal with it," she said as a tear formed on the corner of her eye.

"Oh Sarah I'm sorry...,"

"Please just let me finish...I'm ok," she said as she pushed him back down.

"Chuck when this assignment started, something changed in me. I started to feel better about things, but what really changed is I started to feel better about myself. I started to look forward to things and to look forward to seeing people again, one person in particular. I looked forward to seeing you and spending time with you," she said.

"Me," he asked confused.

"Yes," she laughed.

"At first you were just an assignment but it quickly changed into something else," she continued.

"Wait what? When?"

"After you fixed my phone and before you started disarming bombs with porn viruses," she replied.

"But Sarah when I asked you with the truth serum you said..,"

"I have been trained to resist truth serum. Didn't you notice that I never looked you in the eyes?"

"No I thought you did?"

"It's a trick. I looked at your eyebrows, they are close enough to the eyes to make it look convincing," she said.

"Oh I see I guess that….wait a minute does this mean you have feelings for me?"

"It means that I love you Chuck. I'm scared to death to say it but it's true, and you deserve to hear the truth."

"You love me? Really," he replied with a bit of shock.

"Yes Chuck."

"Sarah that's great I love you..,"

"I know, but hold on Chuck I'm not done," she said as she pushed him back down.

"What's wrong," he said.

"I need to talk to you about Bryce," she said.

"Why? What for," he asked with concern.

"For that! Right there"

"For what?"

"Your lack of confidence in yourself. Chuck I need you to trust that I love you, but I need to know that you believe that you deserve me. Honest to God your constant feeling that you don't deserve me gets you into trouble, and I can't allow that to happen anymore," she said.

"I don't think that," he said.

"Bullshit! I can read you like a book and know everything about you from your shoe size to your hat size. Tell me I'm wrong," she asked as she felt the anger rise up in her.

"But Sarah...,"

Sarah was so angry and frustrated with every thing they had been through for the last year, but most of all how she had to hide her emotions from him. She was used to fighting for others but now she was fighting for herself and for him. Sarah was not very good with emotions, but anger is an interesting emotion, it can heighten your sensitivity and simplify things very well. Sarah felt her frustration grow at Chuck's denial of his insecurity, and her anger came out to set him straight.

"No Chuck you need to trust me! You are the only one for me and no one, and I mean no one, has ever made me feel anything close to how you do. Chuck you make me want to be a better person, and nobody has ever had that effect on me. Bryce was and is nothing compared to you! I made that bag because I love you! I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you because I love you! I'm telling you all of this because I love you! When you have doubts about yourself you do something stupid and it will get you killed! I will not allow that to happen, so if you ever have one more goddamn doubt about that tell me so I can beat it out of you now," she said as she glared down at him.

Chuck stood with his mouth open as Sarah spilled her heart out to him and sat there slack jawed as she waited for him to respond. His heart welled as he realized how passionate and resonate she really was in her love for him. He knew Sarah very well, and knew that there was a special frustration that she reserved for him, it was the frustration that a woman has for the man she loves. He realized that she was frustrated at him because he didn't trust her feeling for him. In a microsecond he saw how foolish he had been, the bag was Sarah's way of telling him that she truly loved him; and he damn sure got it now.

"Well?"

"Ah yes..I mean no...I have no doubts...I'm sorry Sarah."

"Good. No more doubts Chuck," she said as she extended her hand to him.

"No more doubts Sarah," he said as he grasped her hand and she pulled him up into an embrace.

"Talk about being scared straight," he said under his breath.

"What!"

"Oh maybe we could go on a date? I said," he said covering.

"Chuck not now ok? We will talk about all that stuff when I'm feeling better," she said.

"Oh sure no worries," he said.

"Now we have a lot to do an I need to get at least 4 hours of sleep before my shift starts," she said as the clock on the wall hit 6 am.

"Oh sure. My shift starts at 2pm today."

"So does mine, get into bed," she said.

"For what?"

"Use your imagination," she said as she dropped her robe and got under the covers.

"Even more fun if you come along," Sarah said to a dumbfounded Chuck.

"Right," he said as he stripped down and joined her in bed.

"I have been dreaming about this forever," Chuck said as he moved over to her.

"Sarah?...Sarah..are you? oh no," he said as he heard her snoring softly.

"Really? Oh thanks a lot for the medicine Ellie," he said smugly as he adjusted the covers so Sarah would be warm.

He brushed back her hair and latex down on his side facing her as he felt his exhaustion take hold. He knew he was in danger and he knew that the government wanted him dead once the new intersect came on line, but he felt great warmth permeate through his soul. He couldn't help but smile because the woman of his dreams had poured her heart out to him and loved him as much as he loved her.

"Thanks for the medicine Ellie," he said smiling as he drifted off to sleep.

Six hours later Sarah awoke with a start to a ringing phone.

"Walker secure," she said.

"Casey secure. Walker is Bartowski still with you?"

"Yes. Why," she asked as she looked over at a still sleeping Chuck.

"Get over here ASAP, we have a briefing from Beckman and Graham in an hour."

"Is there a mission?"

"Not sure, but I think it's an update on the status of the new intersect."

Sarah's heart dropped at his words.

"Is it operational?"

"Don't think so, I think it's still in beta testing. But it will be ready soon, maybe sooner then we think, so be ready Walker. Understand?"

 _Why had Casey said that to her...does he know?_ Sarah wondered.

"I see," Sarah said.

"Get here ASAP and bring sleeping beauty."

"I will. Thank you John," Sarah said hoping he would read her meaning by using his first name.

"Just looking out for my partner," he said as he hung up.

"Chuck wake up," Sarah said as she rolled him off the bed.

"Sarah what the hell," he said as he hit the floor.

"Hurry up and get dressed."

"What's wrong?"

"It's happening sooner then we thought!"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. Thank you for all the reviews they are the best compensation!

"Thank you for your discretion," Graham said to the man standing before him.

"Yes sir. I understand the security concerns and realize the sensitivity of this matter."

"Good, do you have any questions?"

"Just one sir. What about his handlers?"

"The assignment has been given to Casey, but you are my insurance policy. I know, based of your previous assessment, that Walker is compromised so we couldn't use her, but now I think Casey might be as well."

"And if he is sir?"

"Clean him as well," Graham replied.

"Yes sir."

"Also no head shots! We need to be able to get the intersect out of Bartowski's brain. After he is dead, you need to have him back to the op center before his body temperature drops below 90 degrees. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Nothing? Not even any lingering loyalty to your old friend?"

Bryce hesitated before he answered.

"Not anymore sir."

"Oh God look out," Chuck screamed as Sarah almost crashed into a bus.

After the call from Casey, Sarah moved both bags from her residence, and secured them in her secondary location, which was at a local storage unit. The resulting delay in getting to castle was bound to be noticed, so Sarah made up for it by driving like a lunatic.

"Relax! You are the worst person to drive with," she yelled back as she expertly weaved in and out of the lanes.

The tension in the car was overwhelming as they drove to the meeting at castle, and the stress was fueling the irritability they both felt at the moment.

"So tell me again Chuck, what are you going to do in the meeting," Sarah said.

"We have been over this a thousand..,"

"Go over it again! Now when Graham and Beckman tell you that the intersect is coming to an end you do what?"

"I act surprised and then ask them what happens next," he huffed.

"Correct, and what do you not do under any circumstances?"

"I don't act like I know might know that something is wrong...ohh," he said as Sarah took a turn at what felt like 3G's.

"Nothing Chuck, I mean it! No uncomfortable rambling, no subtle looks. You are not good at hiding anything and they will pick up on it immediately. You have to act shocked and stupid," she said as she looked at him.

"Well that I can do," he smiled.

"Hey I'm serious this is no joke," she said as she saw his smile.

""I'm sorry I was just...,"

"If they suspect you know something is up they will kill you right now Chuck! Do you understand!"

He was silent for a second as the gravity of her statement took hold of him.

"I'm sorry. It's just this is really stressful and I'm trying to hold it together. I couldn't handle it if something happened to you," she said as she grabbed his hand.

"I know Sarah. I feel the same way when it comes to you."

"Ok just hang in there with me and we will get through this. Trust me," she said as she kissed his hand.

"I do, but Sarah?"

"Yeah?"

"What about Casey? Can we trust him?"

"I don't know Chuck, but I'm going to find out," she said as she gunned the engine.

Sarah tried to control her anger as she stood listening to Graham and Beckman thank Chuck for his service.

"So what happens now," he asked.

"Now you get your life back."

"That's it?"

"That's it Mr. Bartowski. We understand that you...,"

Sarah faded out at their meaningless words as they droned on about payments and government "gifts" for his service, knowing fully well what they intended to do to him. As angry as she was at Beckman and Graham, she couldn't help but feel pride as her new boyfriend was handling this very well, and showing no outward signs of the fear that she knew was flowing through him. Thinking about him as her boyfriend momentarily interrupted her train of thought.

 _New boyfriend? How about first real boyfriend? No it's more then that..is this? Could this be it?..husba...get a hold of yourself Sarah.. she thought to herself, and despite their current predicament, suppressed a smile thinking about last night. She had finally "cowboyed up" and told him how she felt and was free of that constricting albatross that hung over her neck; and now with everything out in the open, she felt an unusual feeling of relief._

 _What about Casey?_ she thought to herself as the brass droned on.

 _Why would he tell her if he didn't trust her? He must know how she felt about Chuck, I mean he is not blind... Surely he would know what she would do to him if he hurt Chuck, let alone killed him. He knew what was in her file, so why would he give her a warning unless he wasn't in agreement with the decision? Would he disregard orders? Could he?..._ she thought as she tried to read Casey, but all she got was his stone-faced expression.

She was about to turn her attention back to the screen when she noticed Casey expose a small device in his pocket. It was a jamming device, which would scramble all surveillance from within castle. Sarah used these devices before with Carina, when she needed to discuss things away from the prying eyes of Beckman and Graham, but had never used one with Casey. The very fact that he showed it to her meant that he needed to talk to her, and more importantly, signaled that he was " laying down his sword", by showing her his intentions of possibly helping Chuck.

Sarah needed to respond and offer a good faith sign as well. She had to make a statement, anything really to see where Casey was with all of this. If he was warning her then it stands to reason that he must have suspicions about her feelings for Chuck, so she would show him exactly how she felt. She was taking a big risk if she was wrong about Casey, but like so many other things she realized when it came to Chuck, he was worth it.

"Thank you," Graham said as the connection closed, which brought Sarah out of her thoughts.

"Well I guess that's it," Chuck said as he turned around to face her.

"Not quite. We still have a mission moron. Remember the cypher? We don't know when the mission will happen but we need to be ready," Casey said as he interrupted Sarah's reply.

"Yes, but they said it would be pretty low risk."

"That doesn't mean that things can't go fubar. Now you go back to work, while Walker and I get things prepped down here," Casey said as she looked at Sarah and she saw him press the button.

"Casey shouldn't I..,"

"It's ok Chuck. I'm 20 seconds away from you," Sarah said as she winked at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said as she looked knowingly at Casey.

"Ok," Chuck said uneasily as turned to leave.

Time to make my statement she thought to herself.

"Chuck?"

"Yeah...uhhh," he said as Sarah suddenly launched herself into his arms and kissed him deeply.

"Be careful and I'll meet you for lunch," she said as she broke the embrace.

"Sarah.. I..what...uhh..ill miss you," he mumbled incoherently as he came down from the high and finally made his way up the stairs.

"That was cute Walker. Marking your territory," Casey asked with a smile.

"More like laying my cards on the table," she replied.

"Well didn't think the nerd had it in him," Casey chuckled.

"What the hell is going on Casey," Sarah said as she cut to the point.

"I've been given the order."

"How soon," Sarah asked as he heartbeat instantly doubled.

"I don't know yet, but probably within the week. Are you ready yet?"

"Not yet," she replied as she realized that feigned ignorance of his question wouldn't solve anything. Casey already knew the situation between Chuck and herself, so why try to hide anything now.

"What are we going to do Casey?"

"I have an idea, but I need your help."

"Anything," she replied.

He went on to explain the general framework of his plan, and although a bit o it was still left up in the air, Sarah had to admit that it just might work.

"So that's what I got so far. Of course we may need to adjust as the situation unfolds, but I think it will work," he said as he tried to read Sarah's expression.

She remained quiet for a few moments as she contemplated their options, and although they were limited, having Casey on her side was the best-case scenario. He was nothing if not an honorable man, and she could see that his actions and planning spoke volumes about his affection for Chuck, and also for herself as well.

"Thank you Casey," Sarah said quietly.

"Don't thank me yet Walker. If this thing goes bad we are all dead.

Sarah was quiet for a second and looked over at him pensively.

"What is it Walker? Let's get everything out now," Casey said as he read her expression.

"Why didn't you tell them I'm compromised? You obviously have known for a while," Sarah said.

"What good would that has done me?"

"You could have gotten a new partner or used it to...,"

"To what? Blackmail you or something?"

"No it's just that your are so by the book that I figured...,"

"Jesus Walker Graham really did a number on you didn't he?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean trust Walker. You need to learn how to trust people," he said.

"I do Casey," she replied.

"I'm not talking about boy wonder upstairs, I'm talking about me! I'm your partner and as long as we are on the subject, this team functions best when all that "will they won't they" shit is out of the way! God I'm so tired of it," he said in frustration.

"For the record, yes I know that you are compromised, but I also know that you are the only one who can control him, and for whatever reason, he can keep you from going mental."

"What are you talking about," Sarah asked.

"Come off it Walker! I know all about your past missions, the risks you took and the crap you pulled. If you were the same person now as you were then you would not be here anymore. You would have requested reassignment and gone on to something else, probably with that stain Larkin, and his careless ass would have gotten you killed."

Sarah thought on his words, and realized that he had just let her know that he had her back, but even more then that, he cared about her. He was her partner and wouldn't betray her or burn her the way that Bryce had done in the past, she knew that she could trust him.

"Do you think we stand a chance John," she asked

"Trust me," Casey replied.

Chuck had returned to the store, and was filling out paperwork when he got a text from Sarah that there would be no mission tonight, and that she needed

to cancel lunch. He was more that a little disappointed that he wasn't going to be having lunch with her, especially since he to

revisit the kiss, but put his head back down and tried to focus on his work. Lester came by a time or two with mindless conversation, so he decided to put his headphones in and listen to his music in an attempt to ward off any more disruptions.

Around noon he took his lunch, and slowly headed for the break room. He was half way to the break room, when suddenly the custodial closet door opened, and he was pulled inside.

"Ah what the ...ahh..." Was all he got out as his lips were forced against his blonde abductor.

"How did you like my surprise," Sarah said as she broke the embrace.

"Hell...hi...good..good one..," he replied as he tried to stop his head from spinning, while she laughed at him.

"I thought you were busy for lunch," he said as he finally got his bearings back.

"I am. I just wanted to see you before I

left," she said playfully.

"Oh do you have a mission or something?"

"Yes. I need to go shopping, I have a dinner date with a handsome spy ," she said.

Chuck tried to hide his worried expression at her words, but he was failing miserably as his eyes suddenly fell. He knew that things like this would always come up, but he wasn't anticipating it to happen so soon, and he felt terrible when he saw that she noticed his disappointment.

"Hey what's wrong," Sarah asked as she made him focus back on her.

"I'm sorry Sarah. Look, I know that we talked about it, and this kind of thing can happen, but I just didn't think it would happen so fast and...,"

"Wait slow down," she said.

"No Sarah you don't understand I'm angry at myself."

"What are you talking about," she interrupted.

"I'm letting you down, especially after how you opened up to me last night and were so honest with me. I mean seriously, here is the woman that I love more then anyone in the world, risking everything to be in a relationship with me, and what do I do the first time something like this come up? I drop the ball!"

"Chuck relax," Sarah said as she smiled, but by now he was rambling.

"No I feel bad that the first time this comes up I'm a jealous about it but I promise it's not me being insecure about us it's just I'm worried about you getting hurt and .ahh..," he said as she silenced him with a kiss.

"Thank you," Sarah said as she broke the kiss.

"For what?"

"Well for worrying about me for one, and also for being honest with me about why you were upset."

"Really?"

"Yes. Chuck I know that you will get jealous or worried sometimes an I understand that, but I need you to always be honest with me, and we will always be able to talk about things like this. As a matter of fact that's one of the things I love about you."

"Really? Not my girlish screams or unusually feminine hands," he said as she sighed closer to him.

"Well those too," she laughed.

"Listen I'm sorry again about my reaction."

"It's ok, but now I need to shop for tonight," she said.

"Oh yeah hot date tonight," he replied a bit sadly.

"Yes, so give me 5 minutes then meet me at my car," she said as she wiped the lipstick off his face.

"Huh? I don't understand? I thought you had to go shopping for your date."

"I do Chuck. You are my date," she said smiling at his confusion.

"Wait I thought you said that..,"

"I said that I have to go shopping because if you think that closet you call a wardrobe has anything remotely suitable for a romantic dinner with your girlfriend, then you are sadly mistaken."

"Wait so no..,"

"No missions and no cover anymore, just you and me on a real date," she said laughing as the realization hit him.

"That's great! Awesome..but wait Sarah can we do this..I mean are we allowed? What about Casey? What happens...,"

"Casey and I have an understanding," Sarah replied.

"So he is ok with it? I mean he won't tell Beckman?"

"He won't tell Chuck, as a matter of fact he was almost supportive, or as supportive as someone like Casey can be," Sarah said.

"Wow surprising. I never would of guessed it," Chuck replied hugging Sarah.

"Now we still new to be careful, especially around castle and surveillance, but Casey is on our side," Sarah replied.

"That's the second best news I have heard all day," Chuck replied.

"What's the first," Sarah asked playfully.

"That we are going on a date," he replied.

"Give me five minutes then meet me outside," she smiled as she gave him another kiss and headed out of the closet.

"A real date night with Sarah," Chuck smiled.

"Life is good," he said as she waited the 5 minutes and headed out to meet her.

After an exhausting afternoon of shopping, in which he visited more then 12 stores with Sarah, Chuck finally drug himself into his apartment. He was incredibly hungry from his ordeal and quickly raided the fridge for something to eat. His sister and brother in law were both working a double and wouldn't be back till tomorrow anyway, but he was suddenly hit with a new realization.

 _Wait a minute...I don't need a cover story anymore...we are dating...I'm really going on a date with Sarah...he thought to himself as e smiled._

He checked the clock, and realizing that he had less then 90 minutes to get Sarah, ran to the shower with his packages in tow.

When he got done showering he noticed a text, and smiled when he saw who it was from.

Don't forget the wear the dark blue shirt tonight ! See you soon -S.

"This is going to be awesome."

Many people use an inversion therapy table for relief of backaches and chronic pain. The basic theory is that during the day vertebrae in the back become compressed, leading to various forms of inflammation. Hanging inverted, like on an table, helps to reverse the compression and alleviate the inflammation associated with it. These thoughts were not going through his mind however, as Chuck found himself hanging over the roof of a building, clutching a metallic disk in a death grip, as two massive hands were holding him up by his feet.

 _36 hours ago I was on a date with Sarah and now this!.._ he thought to himself as he looked up at the big hands that held his feet.

The hands belonged to a man known only as Mr. Colt, who while not only responsible for his current predicament, was also responsible for ruining his first real date with Sarah.

 _That damned flash...Things had been going great! She was beautiful and I was funny and just as I'm going in for a kiss...that damned flash...FML!_

Next thing he knew Casey was driving his car through the restaurant window, Colt stole the cypher, the aforementioned disk Chuck was clutching in his hands, after being lured into a trap.

"Can't we just talk about this!"

"Give me the cypher Mr. Carmichael!"

Casey and Sarah had given him strict orders to remain in castle, but he was sent out on a phony install and found himself on this rather precarious situation.

"What will you do if I give it to you?"

"To tell you the truth I'm going to drop you."

"See that's what I'm saying we new to work on our communication! So why don't you just bring me back up there and we can talk about it?"

"I'm running out of patience."

"Trust you! What they hell was I thinking," Sarah screamed sarcastically as she and Casey raced to rescue Chuck from certain death at the hands of Mr. Colt.

The operation to recover the cypher had been a wild goose chase from the beginning, and now everything had gone to crap. Because of some bad Intel, Chuck had been lured away from the buymore, while she and Casey were checking out a bogus lead. The last confirmed location they had for him was an old abandoned high-rise on the southern edge of town, but his locator had stopped transmitting, leaving both agents on edge. Sarah could actually feel her body temperature rise as the fear and anger at the situation flowed through her.

"Can't you go any faster," she asked him as looked tensely over at the and let out a frustrating sigh.

"I need to keep the tactical behind me so they...,"

"Fuck the team!"

Casey maneuvered around a bus, and was about to say something, but thought better of it when he looked over at her and nearly did a double take when he saw that her face had turned a bright shade of crimson.

"Calm down Walker. We will get to him in time," Casey said as he floored the pedal.

"You better hope so," Sarah said under her breath as the big V8 rumbled to life.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N Don't own nor make any $ from Chuck_

1 year ago

Graham was a man who was consumed with a desire to wield the power that very few sacred cows in Washington ever achieve, but in order to get that power he would need to make his own path. He needed to control a project that would cement his place amongst the elite, and ultimately allow him to wield the power he so desperately coveted, and the intersect could be that path. For years he had heard the whispers of the development of some kind of "human" computer, but never could get the defense department to totally commit funds to it.

The only way defense would go total commitment, would be if there was a clear and present danger to the security of the country. The threat needed to be immediate and so serious, that failure to combat it would result in certain destruction. He needed to manufacture the threat, used all the nefarious contacts and morally corrupt politicians and burocrats he could buy to create his threat from within then government, thus Fulcrum was born. He could now press through funding for the project due to the very real threat posed by Fulcrum, the fact that he manufactured it was of little consequence, as he dreamed about how to use the project to cement his legacy.

Unfortunately for Graham, in the great system of checks and balances, the government did authorize funding for the project, but they wanted the military to directly control it, so it was given to the NSA. It was therefore strictly their domain, and he would be completely out of the loop. He needed to find a way to get his hands on it, so he decided to use his best team, Larkin and Walker to steal it. The only problem was that the intersect was in a highly secured building, and this would most likely by a suicide mission, so it ultimately came down to who he could afford to lose. He had to compare his agents and decide whom to send. Walker was by far the superior agent in every way to Larkin. She was careful an pragmatic, while Larkin was careless and sloppy.

Walker had morals and was able to sacrifice for the good of the country; Larkin was all about himself and his own glory. He knew deep down that he could never get Walker to go along with this; she was honorable and would smell something was wrong and refuse to do the assignment. He could have her killed, but the amount of heat her death would draw to him would be too much. Larkin was easy to manipulate, and once Graham told him that he could possibly be a "super agent" after the upload, the Rubicon had been crossed, and Bryce was his.

Casey pulled in front of the warehouse and Sarah was out the door before he could even put it in park.

"Walker wait," he screamed, but she had already disappeared into the building.

She never heard his call, as she was in seek and destroy mode ready to kill anything that got between her and Chuck. She breached the first set of doors she came to and found nothing but an abandoned floor. Quickly repeating herself on the next three floors, she found the same result, and made it up to the roof. Although it was odd that she encountered absolutely no resistance, she didn't process it as being unusual, as he thoughts were totally consumed by Chuck.

 _Is that..OH MY GOD.. CHUCK!"_

"I'm getting tired of this," Colt said as he held Chuck over the roof.

"Let's just talk about this please," Chuck cried.

"Freeze!"

Colt looked behind him at Sarah and then looked down towards the ground.

"You know what? It aint worth it," he said as he released his grip.

"NOOOO!"

Sarah broke as she saw him drop over the side.

"Your boyfriends dead. What you gonna do now baby," Colt said as he approached her.

Sarah processed everything in slow motion.

 _Chuck is dead!He killed Chuck! I want Chuck back..I want to kill him!..I can shoot him..no I want him to hurt like I do...I know the pain will come...the pain is here now...I want the pain to end...I want to be with Chuck..._ her mind raced in a split second as she threw herself at him with fury.

She had no plan as the emotion had completely taken over her. She swung wildly at his face, trying to inflict the most pain and damage, but Colt outweighed her by 250lbs and easily muscled her to the ground. Sarah reached for the gun he had tucked in his waistband, but Colt blocked her and pointed it at her head.

"Do it," she cried.

She didn't care anymore, if Chuck was dead she wanted to be too.

"Walker calm the fuck down," Colt said through gritted teeth.

"Fuck you! Do it! Shoot me," she screamed.

"Calm down! Casey get up here," Colt called into an earpiece.

Suddenly Casey arrived, dragging a very disheveled Chuck behind him.

"Chuck," she screamed an fried to move out from under Colt.

"Now wait just a minute," Colt said holding her down.

"If I let you up do you promise to behave yourself and not try to kill me or yourself," he said.

"Yes," she replied with her eyes locked on Chuck.

"Ok," he said as he moved off her and she jumped like a giant blonde rabbit into Chuck's arms, knocking him down to the ground.

"I thought you were dead," she cried as she kissed him.

"So did I," he replied.

"Well don't just stand there John! Help me up," Colt said as he gave Casey his arm.

"Man you were not lying about her were you," Colt said as he rubbed his jaw.

"She get you bad?"

"A few of them were a little hard," he replied.

After a few minutes Sarah had pulled Chuck back to his feet and they approached Casey and Colt.

"What the hell is going on," Sarah said as she protectively stood in front of Chuck.

"Walker this is Captain Dale Hawkins."

"Agent Walker it's a pleasure," Hawkins said as he extended his hand.

"Captain? I don't understand," Sarah said in bewilderment.

"Dale is an old friend. We saved each others asses in Afghanistan and Iraq more times then I can count."

"What is he doing here," Sarah questioned.

"Well he is helping us with Chuck's situation and..."

"What wasn't I told Casey," Sarah demanded.

"Sarah maybe...,"'was as far as Chuck got before she gave him a look that would frighten the devil.

"Now before we go one step farther. Someone tell me what the hell is going on!"

Bryce was tired; he had been going for almost 50 hours without sleep and, after resisting the onset of sleep

for so long, finally surrendered and closed the file he was reading. He was inside his safe house and made his way to the kitchen, passing a white board, which contained numerous locations and times. He had spent the past 5 days shadowing Chuck, Sarah and Casey, while recording Chuck's precise movements and locations. He got himself a water from the refrigerator and slowly glanced at the board, and thought back to where this all had started.

Ten months ago.

"So once you have uploaded the intersect, both agent Walker and yourself are free to resume your precious arrangement," Graham said.

"Do you have any questions?"

"No sir, I believe the video speaks for itself," Bryce said.

Bryce seethed with anger as he viewed the surveillance video of Chuck and Sarah that Graham had given him. Although it looked like they were having an innocent game night with Ellie and Devin, Bryce knew that for Sarah, it meant much more. He saw the way her hand lingered on Chuck's during some "accidental" touching, and the way she gazed at him when nobody else was looking at her; and knew immediately that she was in love. She never looked at him the way she looked at Chuck, nor laughed as hard or seemed as happy; As a matter of fact, he had never seen her laugh like that, or even smile the way she did with Chuck. It was almost as if he had never seen her before, because the woman in the screen looked nothing like the Sarah that he knew.

He was consumed by jealousy, and what happened between Chuck and Sarah only served to drive his rage further. He didn't love Sarah, but in his twisted mind it didn't matter, Sarah was supposed to be with him, and defiantly not with Chuck. Like most narcissists what mattered to Sarah didn't matter to Bryce, he only knew that he wanted her, and could care less what she wanted. He would not lose! He would not lose to Chuck!

 _He is so predictable_..Graham thought as he watched Bryce's reaction.

He wanted control over the intersect project, and he wanted Larkin back in the fold. Larkin was pathetically easy to control, all that was needed was the proper motivation. He knew that Bryce would never let go of Walker, and using that to his advantage, he quickly found his pawn.

"How do we proceed sir," Bryce asked with fire in his eyes.

"Well first off, you need to die."

Bryce never had any noble intentions to when he sent Chuck the intersect, as a matter of fact, his real plan was to kidnap him and bring him back to Graham to extract the intersect, but Casey shot him before he could do it. Then Graham arranged for him to go off fighting Fulcrum, when in reality he was waiting to use him again. Feeding into Bryce's ego, Graham designated him to advanced psychological training, allowing Bryce's narcissism to erase any loyalty to, or affection for Chuck.

Bryce dropped the empty water bottle in the trashcan and then slowly walked back to the board, and stared with a predatory look at the picture of Chuck. He no longer saw a friend, or even a human being, all he saw was a target.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. This is a short one, but an important one for where I want to take this one. Thank you for all the reviews they are the best compensation!

After their ordeal on the roof, team Bartowski along with Captain Hawkins; moved to a safe house, which Hawkins had procured for the mission. Chuck made his way to the shower to get cleaned up, while Sarah met with Casey and Hawkins.

"I'm not happy about being kept in the dark about this Casey," Sarah fumed.

"Look Walker this came together at the last minute…,"

"That's beside the point Casey. I am supposed to be your partner for Christ sake!"

"You are Walker, but we had to do it," Casey said.

"Why Casey? What could possibly warrant that action!"

"Because you are compromised,' Hawkins chimed in.

"What does that have to do with anything," Sarah demanded.

"Everything! Listen Walker I could see that you were compromised and I just met you. Do you think Graham and Beckman haven't noticed it as well," Hawkins asked rhetorically.

"So what I don't care if they know anymore! I'm tired of fucking hiding," she replied with venom.

"But Walker if they know you are compromised then they would expect you to react like a crazy woman if Chuck got killed," Casey began.

"Which is exactly the reaction you had," Hawkins finished.

"They have surveillance everywhere Walker. In a few hours I will radio in that you and Chuck are missing, when they see the video of him getting dropped off the roof and then you getting you ass handed to you by Captain Hawkins here, all we need to do is produce two bodies and you and Chuck are home free."

"I'm sorry Sarah, but we needed you to think he was dead so you could sell it. Which by the way you did a fantastic job of," Hawkins said as he rubbed his bruised jaw.

"Casey I'm…I can't…I don't have the words," Sarah began as the emotion sprung up from Casey's plan. He had single handily given her a chance at the life that she desperately wanted and couldn't find the words to thank him.

"Its ok Walker, you better go check on numb nuts before he drowns ohh," Casey said as Sarah gripped him in a hug.

"Thank you so much Casey."

"Ok …ok Walker..just thank me when it's over. Just go check on Chuck," Casey said uncomfortably.

Chuck was emotionally exhausted after his shower, but was not allowed to sleep until Sarah had checked him from head to toe for injuries. Finally satisfied that he was ok, she lay down with him and held him tight as he slowly curled his arms around her.

Chuck slowly began to rub her back and a soft moan escaped her lips as she turned around to face him. He kissed her deeply and slowly slid his hand between her legs, feeling the physical response of her arousal. She was ready to express her affection for him when suddenly, she felt a strange sense on uneasiness begin to manifest itself.

Visions of previous situations and seduction missions began to flash through her head, and she felt a shortness of breath. Her heart rate began to increase and her breathing became labored, while beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.

"Hey are you ok," Chuck asked as he saw her turn white as a ghost.

"Yeah I'm fine..I just...I just need...sorry I just need to go to the bathroom real quick," she said as she got out from under him and ran inside.

"Are you sure of this," Graham asked Bryce over the secure channel.

"Yes sir. Chuck was dropped off the building, but a few moments later he reappeared with Casey."

"What about Walker?"

"I saw her leave with Casey, Chuck and Colt."

"Larkin I don't know what the hell is going on, we have had no contact yet from Casey and have not had a chance to view the surveillance footage. If they are going to fake his death then that means that se is going to run with him," Graham said.

"I assume you understands what that means Larkin?"

It was now more obvious then ever to Bryce that Sarah would ever be his again. If she was going to fake her death and run with Chuck then there was no way that she would ever come back. She had made her choice, and it only served to infuriate Bryce more.

"What are my orders sir," he asked mechanically.

"Find and terminate Bartowski and Casey immediately."

"Yes sir, and Sarah?"

Graham looked at him and just shook his head slowly.

"Understood sir."

Sarah had found herself in a lot of strange places over the years, but hiding from her boyfriend in the bathroom was at the top of the list. She was gripped with a feeling that was very unfamiliar to her, she was scared.

 _Why am I nervous? It's not like I am a virgin? I have had sex many times before? Before…but...It's not like before? What is wrong with me?_

"Sarah are you ok," Chuck said from beyond the door.

"Ah..yeah..just finishing up," she said as she flushed the toilet and then ran the water to cover up her delay. She was so happy to be with Chuck, and so very much in love with him, but for some reason the thought of sleeping with him terrified her.

 _Get it together Sarah! You love this man! Love oh my god! I'm going..._

Suddenly Chuck heard the sound of Sarah dry heaving followed by the toilet being flushed again.

"Ok not what I was expecting," he said softly as a visibly upset Sarah emerged from the bathroom.

She looked like she had been crying and suddenly ran into his arms.

"Hey are you ok," he said as he held her.

"No..I'm so sorry.. I'm so fucked up," she cried.

"Wait slow down," he said as he held her right.

"Just calm down and tell me what the problem is. Come over here," he said as he pulled her over to the bed and sat down.

Sarah clung to him as he sat down and squeezed herself tightly against him.

"No what's going on," he said as he stroked her hair.

"It's nothing...its just I'm so fucked up," she cried as tears fell down her face.

"Ok well why do you think you are fucked up."

"It's stupid! You will think I'm crazy," she said.

"No I won't Sarah. I would never think you are crazy," he said as he kissed her forehead.

"Now tell me what it is and let's see how we can make it better," he smiled.

His smile made her feel instantly relieved, which in a weird way actually made her feel worse. Here was this great guy, the best man that she ever had known and truly the only man she loved, but she was afraid of him and she hated herself for it.

"Chuck it's not you...its me I just can't...,"

Chuck just remained silent and held her as she cried.

 _Oh god what must be going through his mind...She doesn't really love me, she is not attracted to me...She loves Bryce...She made a mistake about me..._ were all thoughts that could have been swirling in his mind Sarah thought.

Many guys in this position would immediately think the worst, and maybe last year Chuck would have done the same, but Chuck had changed. Guys think that way, but Men who truly love and understand their women can see when they are hurting, and Chuck could see the hurt in Sarah. He instantly read the situation for what it was, and knew exactly what to do. Although sex is a very intimate act, Sarah had used it all of her life as a method of manipulation, with no emotional component at all. Now here she was out on a limb, and although experienced in the ways of sex, a virgin in the ways of love. He could tell that she was and feeling afraid and hopeless.

"It's ok Sarah," he said.

"Chuck it's not ok! I love you, but I'm scare to death! I want to be with you more then anything, but I feel like I wouldn't be enough! I feel like I wouldn't make it special enough," she cried into his chest.

"Sarah it's ok," he said again.

"No Chuck! You don't know what I've done! I feel like I'm almost...like I was a whor...,"

"Don't ever call yourself that!" He said as he interrupted her.

"But Chuck what I've done before...,"

"Is what you had to do. Sarah I want you to know that I love you, but more then that I want you to know I understand you. I know who you are and I'm in love with you Sarah. That will never change!"

"How can you be so sure," she cried.

"Sarah before I met you I was this normal guy with this normal life...,"

"Yes I know and I'm sorry we took you away from that," Sarah cried.

"Wait Sarah. Hold on just let me finish please," he said.

"Sarah I didn't know who I was before I met you. I know that you think that my life changed for the worse when I got the intersect, but my life changed for the better when I met you. Sarah the only way I can really explain it is that it's like my life just really started when I met you," he said as he wiped away her tears.

"I can't imagine my life without you and to be honest, I don't want to. Nobody knows the future, and we don't know how this whole thing will turn out with the intersect, but I can assure you of this. That I will love and that I will never back away from you, as long as I live."

Sarah cried as he spoke, but this time they came from a source of joy.

 _He understands me, and he really loves me.._ she thought as she felt a weight lifted off her.

"So I don't care about the physical part of our relationship," Chuck began but quickly stammered when he saw Sarah's eyes go wide.

"No..I mean I care! I mean I want to..I dream about it all the time...wait well not all the time," he floundered.

Sarah laughed as he scrambled.

"What I mean is I want you to be ready. I don't want to put any pressuuurrr..." He said before she silenced him with a kiss.

"I know what you mean Chuck, and thank you," she said as she snuggled into him.

"You're welcome. So are you ok? No more tears?"

"No more tears Chuck. I love you so much," she said as she held him tightly.

"I love you too Sarah."

Chuck felt Sarah virtually envelope herself around him, and within 3 minutes they were both sound asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. Thank you for all the reviews they are the best compensation!_

Langston Graham never trusted anybody, and in truth, a man in his position could not afford to. He really had no friends or close associates, he only had opponents. He was constantly looking for an advantage over everyone he came in contact with, and used used any information he could for personal gain. So it would not come as a surprise to anyone who knew him, that he had installed a tracking device in the body armor of Casey's tactical gear. Bryce has used this signal to track their location to modest single family home, in the industrial district of the city.

The house faced an old strip mall that was closed and undergoing renovations, but with a 7 story parking garage, made a perfect sniper nest for Bryce. There was no moon tonight, and the area around him was completely deserted, as he looked through the scope on his rifle and ranged the building. The thermal signatures from the scope showed two targets in the front part of the house, and two in the back, appearing to be sleeping. He knew immediately that was Chuck and Sarah, and felt the bile in his stomach rise as he saw them together.

"I have located the package," Bryce keyed into his radio.

"Understood. Sit-rep?"

"Four targets. Two in the front part of the structure. Range 65 meters. Two in the rear of the structure. Range 73 meters."

"Understood. Are they clear?"

"No. Targets are obscured."

Graham wanted Bryce to recover the intersect from Chuck, so he could not use the .50 caliber loads; which would essentially go through walls. So he had to use a smaller caliber with much less power, and required an unobstructed view of the target. Bryce had prepared for this contingency, by attaching, small remote controlled charges on a few objects on the street, his plan was to draw them out of the house, by detonating them. From his position he would then be able to pick them off. He even went so far as to put a larger charge in the back of the house, so that they would be forced to evac out the front.

"Understood. Stand by."

"Roger."

Graham had designated Chuck and Casey as alpha targets one and two respectively, and Sarah and the man they knew as Colt, targets Bravo one and two. Chuck was higher priority then anyone else and Bryce would need to take him out first as the success of the mission depended on it.

Sarah bolted up in bed as Chuck softly snored. She had a strange feeling, her instincts screamed out something was happening but she just couldn't figure out what. Those instincts had served her well on many different continents and she learned long ago never to dismiss them. She kept replaying the conversation she had with Casey in her mind, because something seemed out of place.

 _I will radio that Chuck is missing...I will radio in...why would he have to radio in?...Why wouldn't Graham and Beckman call them first for updates? Chuck is a very important assets...they wanted him in a bunker to keep him safe for Christ sake..they need to know...They were overdue..why are they not contacting Casey? What could that mean? It either means they can't contact them...that seems highly unlikely given their vast resources...or it means they won't contact them. Why wouldn't they contact them...unless..they know!_

She quickly got out of bed and checked her gun, then moved cautiously to the side window and peaked out.

 _Nothing._

It was a very dark night with no moon and visibility was severely limited.

 _Something is wrong._

"Chuck wake up," she said as she roused him out of bed.

"Hey what's going..,"

"Quiet. Listen I need you to get dressed and stay in this room until I come back for you. Do you understand?"

"Sarah what's wrong," he asked with fear spreading into his voice.

She could see the panic on his face, and although she wanted him to be calm, she knew this feeling she had had never failed to alert her to danger before. Trying to be his girlfriend right now wouldn't be the right move, she needed to be his agent.

"I don't know, but something feels wrong, and I'm not taking any chances with you," she said as she checked the magazine in her gun.

"Ok," Chuck said nervously.

She walked over to him and quickly kissed him.

"Don't worry. I will never let anyone hurt you," she smiled as she made her way out the door.

"Lock the door," she called from outside.

"Yes ...ah..Sarah," he stammered as he jumped out of bed and locked up behind her.

Casey and Hawkins were just finishing up an early breakfast when Sarah startled them.

"Casey something is wrong," she said as she entered the kitchen.

"What is it," he said as both men snapped to attention.

"I'm not sure but something doesn't feel right. It's too quiet. Why hasn't Graham or Beckman tried to contact us," she said as she peaked through the window.

"It's only been...,"

"We have the most important intelligence asset in the history of the United States! Why aren't they raising bloody murder trying to get a hold of us," Sarah said as she stared into his eyes.

Casey immediately picked up on her line of thought.

"Oh Shit," he said.

"What's wrong," Hawkins asked.

"Someone is coming for us," Sarah said as she helped Casey extinguish the lights and check out the front.

"Who?"

"I don't know, but I don't think they are taking prisoners," Sarah said as she peered around the shade an out the window.

Bryce focused his rifle on the front window when he saw the lights go out in the house.

"C'mon show yourself," he whispered as he saw movement behind the window shade.

"I have a possible target," he spoke in the radio.

"Can you confirm identity?"

"Negative. Target is partially obscured. Requesting permission to initiate action."

"Permission granted."

"Roger."

The silence of the moment was ripped apart, as Bryce touched a small hand held remote which activate the first charge of explosives that he had hidden.

"Get down," Sarah screamed as she saw a bright light flash in the street and the glass of the window shatter on her back.

The first explosion was followed by 3 successive ones all of which were getting progressively closer to the front of the house.

"What's your status," Casey called through the smoke.

"I'm ok," Hawkins replied.

"Walker?"

Silence.

"Walker!"

"I'm good," Sarah called back as she was already belly crawling back to get Chuck.

"Stay down," Casey called after her, but she just ignored him and went back to get Chuck.

Sarah couldn't see well as she crawled back to the bedroom and could feel tiny shards of glass cutting through her hands and knees, but she pushed herself forward. Although the explosions were outside, the increasing proximity and easterly wind current, had pushed the pungent black smoke into the house through the shattered windows.

"Chuck," she called as lungs burned from the smoke and heat, hoping desperately to hear a reply.

"Sarah!"

"Chuck! Hang on I'm coming! Stay down," she yelled back through the smoke elated to hear his voice.

Bryce had one charge left, it was the one that he placed towards the back of the house, but unlike the other charges, this one was more powerful. He placed it with the intention of preventing any exit from the rear of the house, and therefore it was designed ignite the house from the rear when it was detonated. He glassed the broken window with his scope and could see Casey and Hawkins, but they were staying low and making themselves a small target. He had not located Chuck or Sarah yet, but knew that once he detonated the final charge, the only way out would be through his kill zone. Bryce was satisfied with his plan as he sat waiting for his kill, and quickly pushed the button on the remote detonator.

Bryce might have been one of Graham's best, but he was ultimately a careless agent, and that made for a sloppy assassin. Immediately after the first explosion Bryce had once again ranged the target, but this time he had forgotten to disengage his laser. It was only on for a brief second, but a seasoned assassin like Casey noticed it immediately.

"What do you figure," Hawkins called to Casey as they lay down hiding from the sniper.

"I don't know for sure, but I would think no more then two and maybe just one," Casey said from cover.

"Yeah if there was a team they would have charged by now," Hawkins agreed.

"Where do you figure he is John?"

"If it were me I would be up there on that roof. It gives good sight lines from the front and he would just need to wait for us to come out the front."

"What about the back?"

"He would have to...oh shit Walker!"

His voice was drowned out as a giant explosion rocked the house, knocking the wind out of him.

"Should I come out?"

"No Chuck just stay in the room I'm almost there," Sarah called.

She was almost to the door when suddenly she felt an enormous burst of energy rock the house, and saw a brilliant light flash through the bottom of Chuck's door.

"Chuu..," was as far as she got when a tremendous wave of energy knocked her to the ground.

"Walker! Wake up!"

"Walker!"

Sarah could feel someone trying to pull her up, but the ringing in her ears drown out any sound. Her faculties slowly began to reboot, and a blurry image slowly materialized in front of her. After a few more seconds, she was able to synchronize the voice up with the face and John Casey came into focus.

"Walker are you ok," he said relieved to see her eyes open.

"Yeah I'm good..oh my God Chuck!"

"Down Walker. There is a sniper," Casey said as she tried to run to go find Chuck.

Sarah could see Hawkins crawl through the obliterated door and quickly followed him inside.

"Oh my God, Chuck," she cried as her heart sank in her chest when she saw the interior of the room.

"Walker! The roof is fully engaged. We only have a few seconds," Hawkins said as he pointed to the burning roof.

Sarah ignored him as she continued to search for Chuck. The heat from the fire was so intense that lower sections of the wall were now starting to ignite.

"Walker we don't have much time," Casey called as he joined the search.

Sarah didn't care. She didn't feel the heat or the burns, or the poison smoke that was choking her lungs. All she cared about was Chuck, and as each microsecond went by without finding him, she became frightened.

The smoke was so bad that visibility was down to inches, requiring the team to reach their hands and feel I front of them for any sign of Chuck.

Sarah was about to scream in frustration, when suddenly a voice cried out over the roar o the fire.

"I got him," Hawkins yelled from across the room.

Ignoring the burning flames and toxic smoke, Sarah ran to the sound of Hawkins voice. The smoke was so thick that she could barely see, but she pressed on until she literally ran into Hawkins.

"Jesus Christ," he swore as she fell on top of him.

"Chuck! How is he," she said, but suddenly felt her stomach drop when she saw Hawkins maneuver Chuck's heavily injured body away from the fire.

"Oh my God Chuck! Chuck! Is he alive," Sarah cried as she fell to her knees.

"I don't know yet Walker! We need to get him out of this room! Casey over here," Hawkins yelled as he pulled Chuck out from the rubble, of what was once the sidewall.

"Walker get back," Casey said as he moved passed her and helped Hawkins free Chuck.

"We got a pulse! We need to move him into the hallway," Sarah cried frantically as she true to pull him up.

"Walker stop! The sniper!"

Sarah snapped her head and looked at him wide eyed.

"The sniper is still outside."

"What?"

"Just move him to the hallway and stay low," Casey said as all three drug Chuck's bartered body into the hallway.

They got him out to the hallway and Hawkins, a combat trained medic, immediately went into a triage mode.

"I got him Walker, let me help him," Hawkins said as he pushed her aside.

Sarah knew that she needed to be strong for Chuck, but she was having a very difficult time at controlling her emotions. She could see a deep crimson stain on the side of his shirt, and his back. He also looked to had some burns on his hands and face, his hair was charred a bit. She couldn't make out any injuries to. The lower body, but it certainly didn't mean they weren't there. Casey needed to keep her focused on the mission or they would all be dead, so he steered her away from Hawkins and brought her up to speed on the sniper. He hadn't realized that Sarah had already gone back to check on Chuck before they saw the laser site through the broken window.

"We saw a laser site glass us through the window before the second explosion. We figure that an assault team would have been in here by now, so it might only be one," Casey said

Sarah was quiet for a second, and Casey mistakenly thought that she had zoned out and turned her focus back on Chuck.

"Walker I think if we...,"

"It's one man Casey! It's Bryce!"

"Larkin? How do you know?"

"We did this same maneuver in Peru. That worthless prick!"

"if it's Larkin then Graham and Beckman must have..shit they burned us Walker! They are going to clean the whole team."

"They won't get the chance! I swear to god I'm going to kill them all," Sarah said as she felt the rage burn inside of her.

"How is he," she asked Hawkins.

"Still alive, but he won't be for long I we don't get him out of here," Hawkins said as he was applying a tourniquet to Chuck's arm.

Sarah bent down and lightly kissed Chuck on the lips.

"Hang in there Chuck. Please don't leave me. I swear to God that nothing will keep us apart anymore," she whispered in his ear.

Sarah looked up at Casey.

"Just how good of a shot are you Casey?"

Before he had a chance to say anything Hawkins chimed in.

"Nobody can touch him."

"Good, because you'll only have one shot," Sarah said.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. Thank you for all the reviews they are the best compensation!_

Bryce scanned the interior of the house, but the extensive smoke was totally obscuring his view.

"Give me a sit rep," Graham's voice cracked in his ear.

"Explosions have gone off. The house is partially engaged. Targets still obscured. It is possible the rear charge was too large," Bryce replied.

 _Goddamn Larkin! Always fucking things up!..._ Graham screamed in his head.

"I need confirmation of all targets," Graham demanded.

"Roger. Stand by. I see movement," Bryce said as he saw a shadow move in the house.

"You have a green light," Graham said.

"Roger. Engaging!"

Hawkins and Sarah moved Chuck towards the front of the house, while Casey got himself into a shooting position. If he had a rifle then all he needed was to find out generally where Bryce was, and could readjust on the fly; but since he had a pistol the shot would be much more difficult. Therefore the plan was to have Hawkins draw Bryce's fire, and then Casey would target him. To say the shot would e difficult, would be the understatement of the year. His shot would be next to impossible, as he had over 50 meters between him an the top of the roof, which was almost the range limit of his sidearm.

He had scanned the horizon of the building one more time, then entered into a firing position.

"Good to go," he said.

"Ok. Don't miss John," Hawkins said as he dashed out in to the open.

Bryce zeroed in on Hawkins and exhaled, slowly wrapping his finger on the trigger.

"Goodbye you..ahhh," he screamed as his scope exploded into a million pieces and splinters glass into his eye.

"Report!" Graham's voice screamed over the radio.

"I'm compromised. Weapon inoperable. Mission scrubbed I'm aborting," Bryce said as he ran towards his escape route.

"What about the targets!"

"Targets still active."

"Fucking Larkin," Graham said as he slammed down his headset in frustration.

Bryce ran to the at end of the roof and quickly descended down a utility latter. Then once on the ground scaled a chain linked fence and ran into the section of woods that was bordering the building. He ducked down behind a small knoll, just as Casey rounded the corner and began to assess the ladder. Then crawled back into the woods out of sight.

Casey rounded the corner of the building and silently scaled the ladder. He aimed for the only think he could see when Bryce popped his head up, unfortunately is was just the scope. He assumed that Bryce would have escaped by now, but desperately wanted to find him up there, so he could finish the job. Once on the roof he immediately saw the debris field left by Bryce, and read the signs of a hasty, unplanned retreat. He spotted broken glass on the edge of the building, and followed a blood trail which led directly back to the ladder. Bryce had left the detonator for the explosions, and Casey policed up the area to look for anything else useful. He was on his way back to the ladder, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small round object scattered near the edge of the roof. He picked it up and quickly smiled when he realized that he had a still functioning ear wig. After searching for a few more minutes he made his way back down to Hawkins and Walker.

Hawkins had managed to bandage up the majority of Chuck's injuries, but it was clearly evident to Casey that they needed to get him to a doctor immediately. Sarah was holding Chuck's hand and wiping his brow, when the faint echo of sirens pierced the early morning air.

"Well it took them long enough," Casey said as he acknowledged the impending police presence.

"How is he," he asked Hawkins.

"He is fading. We need to get him to a doctor ASAP."

"What did you find," Sarah turned and asked Casey.

"Larkin was gone, but I think I injured him. He left in a pretty big hurry. I found this," he said as he handed Sarah the earwig.

Casey could see the rage begin to build in Sarah, but just as suddenly she took a calming breath and seemed to hold it at bay.

"What's our move," Hawkins said.

"I'll take Chuck," Sarah said.

Hawkins and Casey were silent for a minute. They both knew that protocol was to separate in this situation until they could meet again securely; however Chuck's condition seemed to make that impractical.

"Are you sure? Did you have enough time to plan? Maybe we should stay together," Casey asked.

"No Casey. They would be expecting us to stay together now, so we need to go our separate ways for a while. I'm ready for this," she said as she looked down at Chuck.

"Ok. Here take this, it's encrypted," he said as he handed her a phone.

"I will check in with you every 36 hours," Casey said as the sirens increased their volume.

"Thanks Casey," Sarah said.

"Take my car. It's clean," Hawkins said.

"Thank you Dale. Do you guys have transport out of here," she asked him.

"Yes I have a secondary over there, Let's load him up before the cops show up and we are all arrested," Hawkins said as he helped Casey get Chuck into the back of a late model SUV.

"Good luck Sarah," Casey said.

"You too John," she said and drove off.

"Do you think she will make it," Hawkins asked him as they made their way to his secondary car.

"She will make it."

"What about Chuck?"

"Are you kidding? The grim reaper is not stupid enough to piss her off like that."

"What do you mean?"

"That woman would fight the devil himself to get Bartowski back."

Sarah quickly made it to her secondary location and collected their bags, then once she was sure Chuck was relatively stable, made a call on the encrypted phone.

"It's Sarah. I need your help," she said to the man who answered after 2 rings.

"Of course. What do you need?"

"The operation has begun. I need you to meet me at primary location and I need medical as well."

"For you?"

"No, for the one I told you about."

"Of course. We will be ready."

"Very good... out," she said as she closed the connection.

"Just hang on a bit more Chuck. We are almost there," Sarah said as kissed his forehead.

She was making very good time and was far beyond the city limits by dawn. She only had only 20 more till she reached her objective, and after about a half hour, rolled into an abandoned airfield. There was a single hanger at the far end of the field, which seemed out of place amongst the wild weeds and scattered trash. She drove directly to the hanger and honked the horn, 3 seconds later the door open and she drove inside. A man closed the door behind her and turned on the light in the darkens hanger, illuminating a small Cessna plane and a pretty good field hospital suite.

A woman came up and embraced her as she got out of the car.

"Sarah you are ok yes," the woman asked with a Spanish accent.

"Yes I'm fine Selma, but Chuck is not," she replied with a sniffle.

"I know. Come Alberto will help," she said.

"In the back," Sarah motioned Alberto who approached the car.

"How is he," he asked as he opened the door.

"I don't know. We stabilized him at the scene, but I think he needs blood. Did you stock the B+?"

"Of course. Let's get him over to the table," the man said.

"Thanks Alberto," Sarah said as she helped him move Chuck.

Alberto went to work immediately and took Chuck's vitals. His heart rate was week and his body temp was rather, so Alberto began to check for infection and internal trauma.

Alberto went to work as Selma tended to Sarah, who felt useless and had no idea what to do.

"Has he woken up at all," he asked a hovering Sarah.

"No," she said softly.

"How did this happen," Alberto asked.

"Outside of his room there was an he... is he going to die," she asked sadly.

Alberto looked up at her when he heard her tone, and could see that she was in shock. The site unnerved him a bit because he had never seen her like this before. She was always in control and always knew what her next move was, but it became rather obvious to him by her body language, that she was lost.

"Sarah I can't give you that answer now, but I promise you that I will do my best to help him," he said with kind eyes and nodded to Selma.

"Thank you Alberto," she said as the tears came down.

"Come Mijo, let my Alberto work," Selma said as she took her away.

"No I can't.."

"Yes! You need a few minutes. I will bring you back in five minutes," Selma said as she led her away.

"Come sit here," she said as she led Sarah to a couch and calmly stroked her hair.

"You are exhausted. Always exhausted Mijo," Selma said.

"Thank you for helping me Selma," Sarah said.

"You know by now Sarah that you never have to thank us," she said as she continued to sooth her.

"You know you are our guardian angel," Selma said.

Sarah's thoughts drifted back all those years when she first met Alberto and Selma. She was in Columbia working a drug cartel and had managed to infiltrate by posing as a buyer from Europe. Alberto was a kind hearted local doctor who had the misfortune crossing, Carlos Ruiz, the leader of the cartel. He witnessed the murder of his patient, the prosecutor of record, and refused to be bought off by the cartel. He and his family were in protective custody, but after a series of bribes , he was delivered straight to Ruiz.

Ruiz intended to kill him an his family, but he was a sociopath and Alberto was sadistically tortured for two days. His refusal to accept the bribe, drew the rage of Ruiz, who saw it as a personal affront. By some miracle, Ruiz had not been able to get his hands on Selma or the kids, so he took his frustration out on Alberto. He taunted him with how he would hunt down his family and kill them, an all Alberto could do was plead for the life of his wife and family.

After one last brutal beating, he knew that he was dying, and prayed for god to take him. Many of his colleagues never believed those stories of people seeing angels as try passed on; they were men of science and knew that as the brain was shutting down, it releases chemicals, most likely to ease the transition to death. Alberto always believed in God, and now as he lay on the floor of his cell dying, he saw his angel appear, and waited for her to take him to the other side. She had beautiful blonde hair and sweet eyes, which looked at him with compassion. He softly began crying as he found a warm and comforting feeling well up inside of him, signaling to him that he was now safe. He smiled at her and she smiled back, and slowly placed her finger up to her lips. He just smiled and looked into her eyes, but then something unexpected happened.

Those beautiful angelic eyes, focused their attention on the other men in the room, and turned dark. Gone was any trace of compassion or caring. They looked angry, enraged, violent and deadly all at the same time. It was almost as if they were the eyes of the devil. He slowly found himself losing consciousness, and as he slowly drifted off he heard the screams of the dying, and hoped his angel was not taking him to hell. He would later find out that his angel did indeed save not only him, but also his family from hell. She interceded before Ruiz could get his hands on them, and dispatched his team. She also tracked him and killed the devil himself that night, when she dispatched Ruiz. He could never find the words to thank her, or truly tell her how much affection he had for her. The only thing he could do to honor her was to name his youngest angel after his guardian angel, and so a year later when she was born, he named her Sarah.

After about twenty minutes Selma could feel that Sarah had drifted off to sleep. She slowly laid her down on the couch and covered her with a blanket, before she went to check on Alberto.

"How is he doing?"

"He needs a lot of work. How is Sarah?"

"She is exhausted. Poor girl."

"I wish she would quit this world," Alberto said.

"I think you have the key," Selma said.

"What do you mean?"

"He is the one."

"You mean..,"

"Yes. He is the one that can save her, he will get her out of the hell she is in. You need to save him Alberto."

Alberto silently nodded and back to work, as Selma went back to check on Sarah.

"Well my friend we must get you better. She pulled me out of my hell and I need you to do the same for her."


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. Thank you for all the reviews they are the best compensation! Also a big Thank You to all of my Spanish speaking friends for your assistance._

Diane Beckman was an early riser. Ever since childhood, she would always be awake before any member of her family, and the habit integrated seamlessly into military life. By 4:30 every morning she was usually in the basement of her rented Georgetown row home, on her treadmill and mentally preparing for her day. Today was no different, and she slowly adjusted her speed on the machine, while briefly glancing at the latest news on the corner TV. She was up to a pretty good run, when suddenly the belt on the treadmill abruptly stopped, and she tumbled down hard to the floor.

"A person in your position should be more careful," a voice said.

"Who's there," Beckman called out

"You never know when someone is going to pull the plug on you," Casey said as he materialized from the darkness.

"Well I suppose I deserved that," she said as she struggled to get to her feet.

"Among other things," Casey said as he eyes her suspiciously.

She got up and sat down on a nearby chair as Casey looked at her like a predator surveying his prey.

"How did you get past security," she asked.

"Dumb question general," Casey said with a knowing glance.

"Well I guess it's your move major."

Graham pounded his fist in frustration as the operation spiraled out of control. Casey had left his TAC vest in the safe house, and now all of team Bartowski was off grid. Larkin had once again proven to be more trouble then he was worth, and totally botched the operation. The moron had even chosen the wrong time to begin his assault, as the satellite was not due to fly over that area for another half hour. At least if they had some pictures that could have shown how they escaped, car makes, colors, something. Now we're back to square one with one major difference, a very pissed off Sarah Walker.

Graham didn't fear much, but he would be a fool not to fear Walker. She was an expert assassin, and above all, an efficient killer. He had recruited her and trained her, but even he didn't know how to stop her. Under estimating her had proven to be a liability that he couldn't afford to pay. He first saw her fury when he sent her to gain intelligence on a Columbian drug cartel. Sarah had made contact with a doctors wife named Selma who needed her help. He wanted Walker to spin Selma for info and then burn her, but Sarah refused.

Graham didn't want to stop the cartel, he wanted to set up a dummy organization to syphon off the money from them, so he could build his little intersect army. Sarah was supposed to make contact and then set up the fake corporation for his cash grab, but she had other ideas. Selma convinced her to help her husband, and even though Graham told her to stand down, she went in anyway.

In one day she single-handedly killed not only the head but also the senior leadership of the cartel. She completely destroyed the cartel, and Graham, ever the opportunist, took credit for the operation and rode the wave of adulation to a hefty new funding ceiling. The new funding brought him closer to finally controlling the intersect, but Walkers insubordination was troubling. He couldn't terminate her because he would lose his best asset, but at the same time he needed to find a way to control her. In a way to exert some control over her, he assigned her to the agent with the best seduction record, Larkin, hoping he would be able to seduce her into relationship, which Graham would then be able to exploit.

He thought if Sarah developed real feelings for Bryce, then he would be able to have control over her; but Larkin was too weak of a man to be able to handle her. Even from his position, Graham could see that Bryce couldn't gain her trust, and became more of a distraction to her then a partner. His major miscalculation was that he never was emotionally invested in Sarah. He saw her as just a weapon, that was cold, unfeeling and efficient. In a million years he would never believe that that his weapon would fall for Bartowski; however had he ever tried to see the person she was, rather then the weapon that he created, he may have understood how it could of happened. He walked over to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink, but he found a slight tremor in his hand and quickly closed his fist. He could try to delude himself into thinking that it was just strained wrist from some ancient injury which crept back up, but he was a realist and knew the truth, it was fear. He knew that somewhere out there was the most lethal killing machine he ever envisioned, and she would be coming for him.

"Is this really necessary Major," Beckman said after Casey firmly secured her arms to the chair.

Casey remained silent.

"You know sooner or the NSA will be wondering where I am," Beckman said.

"Not until 8am. You are picked up everyday here at 8am," he said as he looked at the clock.

"So we still have 3 hours," he said as he approached.

"You are going to tell me everything you know," he said as he approached her and pulled out a knife.

Beckman involuntarily shivered when she saw the knife.

"And if I don't?"

"Then this is going to end very badly for you," Casey said as he roughly cut her restraints and pulled her up to him.

Beckman winced as she felt him dig his hands into her arms.

"Ok Major! I will tell you everything I know. I just have one request," Beckman said.

"What's that," Casey replied.

"Call me ma'am," she said as she kissed him passionately.

Alberto had just finished up with Chuck and walked out of the makeshift surgical suite, to find his wife waiting with a cup of coffee. He looked at his wife and thanked God for the millionth time that she came into his life. She was the most beautiful woman that he ever laid eyes on, and had no idea what he had ever done to deserve her.

He met her in college when they were both first years, and he fell instantly in love. Selma was the daughter of a wealthy factory owner, and had finished second in the miss Columbia pageant. He was from a rural village on scholarship, just trying to find his way in the world. There was no way they should have ever wound up together, as Selma was pursued by every man in the country it seemed, and Alberto was just a shy kid with very little to offer. By some magical intersection of the gods, they feel deeply in love and never looked back. Despite the many hardships that they faced, especially during his capture, Alberto and Selma never lost their love for each other, nor their friendship either.

"How is he doing," she asked.

"He's alive. A bit touch and go for a while there, but he seems to be stabilizing," he said.

"Poor Mija. She is so exhausted. We should let her sleep a bit more," Selma said looking at Sarah.

"Fine by me."

"You know it's funny. He doesn't look like I expected he would," Alberto said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well she is such a strong woman that I thought the guy that would get her would have to be a superman or something."

"Why is that?"

"The way she talked about him, and well a lot of men can be intimidated by a strong woman."

"A lot of them are," Selma said knowingly.

"How many men came to my fathers house before you? How many men were after me?"

"I would hope not too many," Alberto joked.

"Stop it," she slapped at his hand.

"Do you know why I chose you Alberto?"

"Because you loved me," he said as he kissed her.

"Well yes but what made me fall in love with you?"

"Well I had things going...,"

"Oh please! You didn't have a dollar to you name and no idea what you wanted to do with your life. All you knew was you wanted to help people."

"My father wanted me to marry an established man for money and security."

"You are talking about Juan Ramirez," Alberto said.

"Yes Juan asked me to marry him many times!"

"I thought it was just once!"

"It doesn't matter. I was always waiting for you," she said as took his hand.

"And you kept me waiting for over a year!"

"Hey! Sorry I was trying to prove myself to you. I had just been accepted to medical school and I don't want to pressure you..and..,"

"Oh you never got it, and now after all these years you still don't get it my stupid little man. I would have waited for you forever," she said.

"Really?"

"Alberto I fell in love with you because of this," she said as she put her hand on his chest.

"Your heart. You are a kind man and a good man and of all the men that I ever met, you were the only one that loved me for my heart as well. Even before I knew I loved you Alberto, you were my best friend. You still are my best friend. You are the only person who can make me so angry and so happy at the same time. I almost hate you for it," she said.

"What do you mean," he laughed.

"I'm serious," she said with tears in her eyes.

"Hey what's wrong," he said as he embraced her.

"Nothing," she replied.

"No it's not nothing. Tell me what's bothering you? Are you afraid because we are helping Sarah?"

"God no! Why would you say such a thing?"

"Well you are upset and..,"

"At you, not Sarah!"

"Just be quiet for a minute," she told her husband as she took a few breaths to calm down.

"It goes back to when you were taken," she began.

"I'm sorry Sel..,"

"Just listen," she said shutting him up.

"When they took you, it was the absolute worst time in my life! I was so frightened every day! I don't know if you were dead or alive and not knowing...,"

She sighed as her voice cracked with emotion.

"Not knowing was the worst! I had 3 babies with me who needed their father and one on the way and I...I couldn't...I'm so sorry Alberto," se said as the tears came.

"Its my fault I'm sorry, you did nothing wrong," he said as he tried to embrace her.

"No I did! I need to tell you," she said as she pushed him away.

"I need to tell you this. When they took you away and were holding you. I began to have these terrible thoughts," she said as she choked back the tears.

"I was so alone and frightened and trying to be strong for the kids, but I was so angry to..I was angry at you," she cried.

"I was so angry, I thought if you would have just cooperated with them they would let us go and everything would be back to normal. Oh God Alberto I hated you for that," she cried into his shoulder.

"It's ok," he said.

"No it's not! I hated you for being that kind of person, but I loved you for being that person as well! I was so afraid to be alone with the babies and I didn't know what to do! But I felt so proud of you for being that kind of man. The good man who stands up for what is right. The best example for his children and I was so proud to be your wife! I felt like I was two different people, oh I felt so terrible and selfish. Oh please forgive me Alberto," she cried.

 _Alberto held his wife as she sobbed and just shook his head in amazement. Here she was asking his forgiveness for what? For being afraid? Terrified? Overwhelmed? human?_

He kissed her lightly on the forehead and pulled her to him.

"Selma there is nothing to forgive. I owe my life to you. I was truly blessed by God the day that I met you, and can't imagine what I did to ever deserve a wonderful woman like you. You are the strongest person that I know, and the only thing that kept me alive during those days was coming back to you. I can't explain how much you mean to me, but I swear to God that if I could give you all the treasures in the world, it wouldn't be close to what you have given me."

Selma smiled as her husband embraced her and felt the warm feeling of home and family in his embrace.

"We can't control the future Selma. All we can do is face whatever comes up, and I for one am glad that I will face it with you," he said as they both sobbed in their embrace.

"You know something Alberto you are right about one thing," Selma smiled.

"What's that?"

"Only a superman can handle a strong woman."

Sarah silently watched Alberto and Selma embrace and felt a tear roll down her cheek. She dare not make a sound for great of intruding, and and felt a little uneasy about sharing this moment with them.

"Mija you're awake," Selma smiled and got up and embraced her.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to interrupt," Sarah began.

"You didn't interrupt Mija," Selma said.

"No, I feel bad that I interrupted a family moment," Sarah said while trying to hide her teary eyes.

"Nonsense! You are a part of our family," Alberto said echoing the sentiments of his wife.

Sarah was touched by the sentiment and desperately needed to change the tone of the conversation, or she would be crying all over them.

"How is Chuck doing," she asked.

"Well he is a tough man. I managed to set his broken bones, and his lungs were not as damaged as I initially though. He most likely had a concussion, but I won't know for certain till he wakes up," Alberto said.

"Alberto he has been unconscious for a long time. Is that normal?"

"In his condition yes. I don't believe that it is a coma, and I think he should wake up in the next few hours."

"How soon before we can fly?"

"Well I would like to give him another 3 hours, but if we stay bellow ten thousand feet he should be ok," Alberto said.

"Thank you Alberto," Sarah said as she embraced him.

"My pleasure Mija," he said.

"Can I see him?"

"Sure. I'll take you," Alberto said as he led the way.

"Here he is," Alberto said.

Chuck looked much better then the last time she saw him, and Sarah was visibly relieved by the change.

"Wow he looks better," she said.

"Be sure to tell him that," Alberto said.

"Why? Do you really think he can hear me," Sarah asked.

"Well even if he can't, it couldn't hurt. I'll be outside if you need me," he said.

"Thank you," Sarah replied.

Sarah stood in silence for a minute as she looked him over. His face was no longer pale as his color ha returned, and she could feel that his body felt warmer. Although she wished that he was awake, he looked like he was just sleeping peacefully, which was light years ahead of where he was before. She twirled her fingers around the charm bracelet on her wrist that he had given her, and suddenly began to speak.

"I really love this bracelet Chuck. It was the best thing that anybody ever game me," she said.

She meant it. Sure she had gotten diamonds and gold from various marks and agents, but this was the first time anybody gave a gift to the "real" her, and not the image she created.

"I really want you to wake up," she cried.

"I have a lot of things that I would like to tell you, to share with you. Things about myself that nobody knows. I only wish I could of..,"

Her voice cut off with emotion as she thought back on all the wasted time and missed opportunities. She didn't know what tomorrow would bring, she only knew that she didn't want to waist any more time. She reached down into her pocket and pulled out a small silver medal.

"Chuck I wanted to give you this for a long time, but I chickened out so often that I almost lost my chance," she sighed.

"I wish you were awake to hear this, but we both decided that we can't waist anymore time, so here it goes," she began.

"Chuck for most of my life I never fit in. I always felt like an outsider and I didn't belong anywhere. When I joined the agency I turned into something that I am afraid to think about anymore. I was just a lost cause in every sense of the word."

"After our first night on the beach, after I dropped you off home, I don't know why, but something made me feel like going for a walk. After a while I got tired and sat on a bench, and a few minutes later an older lady sat down beside me," she said.

"We got to talking and she was a widow from Minnesota, here visiting her grandchildren. As a matter of fact her grand daughter was making her fist communion, so she was just coming back from the Catholic shop after getting her medals and things," Sarah said as she softly brushed back his hair.

"Anyway she was very nice and asked about my story and for some reason I couldn't lie to her, so I told her how I felt. I told her I was a lost cause. She of course gave me the spiel that I'm not a lost cause, and hang in there, God never forgets, all those things you hear but never really believe. I was nice and polite and agreed with her, but never really thought much about it. She gave me a little mas card when she left and on the back was a medal of St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes! How fitting right," Sarah asked rhetorically.

"I have been thinking a lot about this Chuck, and what I want to tell you is that since I have met you, I'm not a lost cause anymore. I want to give you this to let you know that you found me! You saved me from the monster that I was and gave me a future," she cried as she kissed him.

"I know it's not much, but it's the only thing that I can give you that is really from me. I want you to keep it near you heart, because that's where I keep you," she said slipping it around his neck.

"I love you Chuck," Sarah said.

She heard him breath deeply and momentarily hoped that he would wake up, but his breathing slowly returned to normal and she took a seat next to his bed.

"Don't go...," she heard him breathe out softly.

"Chuck! Chuck can you hear me," Sarah said as she cupped his face in her hands.

"I heard every...everything...I ...lllove youuuu too Sarraahhh. Donntt go," he said softly.

"Chuck I'm not going anywhere! Alberto!"

"Sarah what's wrong? Is he ok," Alberto said as he saw her with yet in her eyes and feared the worst.

"He's waking up!"


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: I dont make any $ or Profit from Chuck. Thanks for all the reviews, I know Beckman and casey are a strange pair, but thats what makes life interesting sometimes!_

Bryce was is pain, he returned to the safe house after his failed assassination attempt, and tried his best to clean the glass that had lodged itself into his eyebrow. The real genesis of his pain however, was his ego, and the fact that the last few hours had proven to be the most embarrassing of his professional career. He was angry that Casey had managed to get the better of him. Never did it cross his mind that Casey was a superior shot to him, or that Sarah and he were et yet prepared for Bryce then he was for them. In his mind they had just gotten lucky, but he would make sure that it would never happened again.

He was finishing up his coded after action report to Graham, when his phone buzzed, signaling an incoming message.

 _Report of activity at primary locations alpha and beta is negative. Gamma location has been disabled._

Alpha and Beta had been designated for Sarah and Ellie's apartments, respectively, while gamma was castle. Since the termination order, Beckman had sealed castle and posted armed security, which had severed all uplinks and dumped the mainframe. In short they were erasing the intersect project. Bryce recalled how enraged Graham was when he discovered it. Clearly, he had not anticipated this, and though he should have known the NSA would try to exert their domain as soon as possible, he probably thought he would of had time for Bryce or Walker to get the files before they were wiped.

Ironically however, Beckman act of sealing castle was most likely what was keeping Bryce alive at the moment. He knew the way Graham worked, and knew he was on borrowed time after botching his last assignment. Beckman's action had forced Grahams hand in one circumstance. He would have liked to bring a new team in to eliminate Bryce, as well as Bartowski, but now he was forced to keep Bryce in the field to complete the mission. This gave Bryce a very narrow chance at redemption, and it was one he could not afford to lose.

 _Code in. Priority 1_ came a message on his phone.

Bryce logged in through his remote terminal and accessed the waiting message.

 _Package located. Location information downloaded to your mainframe. 5th freedom authorized on all targets. Epsilon protocol authorized._

Bryce reread the message to make sure that he could confirm epsilon protocol, and then closed out his connection. Epsilon protocol dictated that anyone who could not be identified at the scene would be designated as "unfriendly" and therefore hostile. This was a total cleaning job of every person in the area, even civilians. Even a poor guy walking his dog would be killed if he was within the operational perimeter of the action, and the operational perimeter was at Bryce's description. Graham had just authorized Bryce to kill everyone who got in his way; he was going on the hunt.

Casey had just finished on his phone when Beckman came into the bedroom.

"Was that Walker?"

"Yes."

"How is the as..how is Chuck?"

"He is still unconscious, but seems to be stabilizing," Casey replied.

"The operation from my end will continue as planned. I will push through all required authorizations," Beckman said.

"She will be happy to hear that. I'll make sure to tell her next time," Casey said.

"I'm sure she will, and tell her that I will keep my end of the bargain as well. When this operation is over, as far as the United States military is concerned, Charles Bartowski and Sarah Walker will be officially dead."

"Good."

"They have earned it, among other things," Beckman said.

"That they have ma'am," Casey said.

"We would probably never find them anyway," Beckman joked.

"Only if she wanted you to, and if she did I sure as hell wouldn't want to be that guy."

"Why is that?"

"It would be the day I would die."

Sarah was sitting at the foot of Chuck's make shift bed, trying to process the last few minutes. Her emotions ranged from elation, to disparity, and then back to uncomfortable all within a window of 4 minutes. She was elated when her first woke up, but that elation was short lived, as Chuck slowly faded back into sleep a few seconds after waking up. Alberto told her that it was normal, and a very good sign that he had woken up; but she wanted him back full time, and a general feeling of uneasiness and depression settled over her. She was familiar with this feeling, having experienced it ever since childhood, and even through her CIA career. It might have been one of the reasons why she was so reluctant to ever be able to really like herself. She had never thought about killing herself, but there were many times when she hated herself, or more accurately, the person she was pretending to be.

That was most likely the reason that she considered herself a lost cause, that feeling of depression she had could beat everything in her life, everything that is except for Chuck. He was the only remedy that she had ever found that could finally silence the anger in her soul. If he was with her now, she was sure that she would not be feeling this way. She knew that he would say something that would make her happy. More then anything else that was really what he did for her, he made her happy; but not only happy to be with him, he made her happy to be who she was because she was they type of person who could make him happy.

 _How could a bad person make someone like Chuck happy? They couldn't! Therefore she must not be that bad. That is what she really loved about him. Somehow is his own way, he made her love the one person that she hated, he made her love herself. He saw the boundary between the agent and the girl, which had long ago blurred in her eyes, and pulled the real girl out of that hell. He destroyed the armor she cloaked herself in as Graham's enforcer, and exposed the Sarah Walker that she was. The one that he loves, and that one that loves him, and they tried to kill him_...she thought as she removed the earwig from her pocket and slowly rolled it in her fingers.

Casey had powered off the earwig before he gave it to her, but she knew that they had a tracking device on it and when she activated it again, they would be coming for him. Graham would send Bryce, and if he failed he would send someone else; but it didn't matter to her. She would kill anyone who came for him.

"How are you Sarah," Selma said as he walked in to check on Chuck.

"I'm ok," she said softly.

"Really," Selma said as she eyed her earwig.

"What's that?"

"Just something someone left behind," Sarah said as she put it in her pocket.

Selma was silent for a minute and looked at Sarah.

"They will come again for him Sarah. Yes?"

"Yes."

"He will never be safe will he," Sarah said softly.

"Not like this no," Selma replied.

"I don't know what to do," Sarah said in frustration.

"It will get better Mija. You will know what to do when the time comes," Selma said as she put her arms around her.

"How did you get through it," Sarah pleaded.

"My grandmother told me that when she was a little girl, her father would dig these large holes around the chicken coops. He told her never to go near these holes, and that if she did she would be in danger."

"I'm don't understand," Sarah said with a puzzled expression.

"Just listen, and maybe you will know what to do when the story is finished."

"Ok," Sarah replied with tears in her eyes.

"One day her father was going into town to sell his crop for a few week, and before he left gave her a rabbit. He told her that he would build a house for it when he came back, but she should keep it in the house with her at night until he got back," she said.

"She loved the rabbit and played with it every day and took him in the house every night. The day before her father returned, she was playing with her sisters and brothers, and their mother called them inside for dinner and they forgot to bring the rabbit in."

"When she realized she ran out and went searching for it, and ran out before her mother realized it. She looked everywhere, but couldn't find it, so she finally went to look in the holes near the chicken coop."

"Now her oldest brother was still out in the field and caught site of her right before she went to look in the holes. He ran up behind her and pulled her away just as she saw inside."

"What did she see?"

"Snakes."

"Snakes?"

"Yes. The snakes would come every night to feed on the chickens and the rats. One of the snakes had eaten her rabbit. Every morning before sunrise her father would burn the pit, but the snakes would always come back."

"I don't understand what you mean," Sarah said.

"I asked my grandmother the same question," Selma laughed.

"Do you know what she said to me?"

"What?"

"She said Mija, when what you love is in danger; you can only hide behind a barrier for so long, but eventually the barrier will fall. To truly protect what you love, you must kill all the snakes."

The hunter looked through the thermal scope at the desolated aircraft hanger, and saw 4 heat signatures. Three were vertical, while one was lying in a prone position, like on a bed. Designating that target as highest priority, the hunter focused on that one. Waiting for the moment to strike down the quarry with ruthlessness and deadly efficiency. Slowly adjusting position to remain undetected, like a predator slowly crawling towards the ignorant prey; closer now and downwind, the scent of isopropanol hung in the air and led the way to the target. It would only be a matter of time now, as the hunter pulled out a knife.

"What is your status," Graham called.

"I have tracked the device to location. In position. Targets acquired. Close range. CQC area."

A CQC area is a close quarters combat area, meaning that the targets were in a confined space, and a gun would draw attention from the other targets, complicating matters. As this was a priority mission, silence was mandatory. Usually in these situations, a knife was the means of termination, as it allowed a silent kill.

"Have you been compromised?"

"Negative sir. I'm a ghost."

"Very good. Every target 5th freedom designation. Understand?"

"Understood."

"You have a go," Graham called.

"Roger. Engaging!"

Bryce crept into the room and quickly plunged a knife into the form that was on the bed.

"What the fuc...oh no," he said as he realized too late that he was staring into the eyes of the hunter.

Standing in between three space heaters, Sarah looked at him through eyes that truly terrified him. She had him dead to rites, and realized in these last few seconds, just how much better she was then him. She had known that he would use a thermal scope to survey hanger, and used the space heaters to counterfeit the signals. He never would have anticipated that she would have known his assault plan, or more importantly, the exact type of equipment he would use. She knew his scope was easily fooled by concentrating heat signatures, and by simply raising the temperature a few degrees in one room, could render the remaining inhabitants invisible, which is exactly what she did.

He tried to pull his knife, but she was faster and threw her weapon with deadly accuracy. The blade pierced his neck, causing immediate paralysis and dropped him to the floor. As he lay dying on the floor, she leaned down and pulled the earwig out of his ear.

"You will never hurt him again," were the last words Bryce heard as his life slipped away and the darkness overtook him.

"Report! What's going on," Graham called.

"Is the package down?"

Sarah could hear Grahams panicked voice and put the device in her ear.

"Larkin! Report!"

"Graham!"

"Walker?"

"I'm coming to get you," she said as she took out the earwig and crushed it with her foot.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. Thank you for all the reviews they are the best compensation!

Diane Beckman sat on a park bench and watched as the snow softly fell on the freshly bloomed cherry blossoms. The late spring chill was not unusual for Washington; however the snow was and in typical beltway behavior, an inch and a half of snow had paralyzed the city. She was waiting for a meeting with a very important contact, and although she usually disliked this cloak and dagger stuff, for him she would make an exception.

As the darkness grew and a soft sodium vapor lamp came to life above her, she adjusted her coat against a cold wind as a solitary man with an umbrella entered the park. He was impeccably dressed man and strode towards the bench in slow measured movements, which in truth, was just for theatrics. She knew he would never show his face until he was absolutely sure there was no danger, but he did love to put on a show.

The face looked older and his hair had turned a light shade of grey, but the eyes were still bright and focused.

"Hello Diane. If it's possible you look more radiant then ever," he said as he sat down beside her.

"Thank you. You are looking well yourself," she replied.

"So how is Major Casey doing," he asked as he casually wiped a bit of snow off of his umbrella.

"You don't miss much do you?"

"No, but then again I never did," he replied.

"Casey is doing well," she replied.

"I'm sure he is," he laughed.

"How is your..ah..your life," she asked struggling to make conversation.

"Same always Diane, busy. But then again I'm sure you know that," he said.

"We lost track of you after that Russian thing. I thought maybe somebody finally caught up to you. Then you show up in Brazil," she said.

"Yes well Russia is a very cold place and I needed a bit of sun," he joked.

"What happened," she asked.

"Oh you know I don't kiss and tell," he joked.

"I'm being serious," she pressed.

"I know you are, and I know that you are not here with a detail, so you obviously aren't trying to arrest me. And you wouldn't be foolish enough to try to kill me, so that leaves two options. Either you are here to declare your undying love for me, which seems unlikely due to you "activities" with major Casey, or you need something from me."

"You never did miss anything did you."

"No."

"I need your help."

"I'll bet you do."

"Are you interested?"

"As much as I would love to help you Diane, I still have a rather bad taste in my mouth from the last time we worked together. Your CIA is not exactly a friendly playmate," he said.

"I know, but this time it will be different. You will be working for the NSA," she said.

"Eh same church different pew. Now Diane as much as I enjoyed out time together, I'm afraid I will have to take my leave its been..,"

"Please just hear me out. It concerns Steven's son," she said.

"What did you do Diane," he said with a flash of anger.

It was a little after 2am when they were ready to leave. Sarah left Bryce's body where it was and walked to the far end of the hanger where Selma and Alberto had already loaded Chuck on the plane. Alberto was in the back with Chuck, while Selma, a trained pilot, would be doing the flying.

"What's our status," she said as she got into the copilot seat.

"Just bringing her up now. Everything looking good," Selma said as she went through the preflight check.

"How is he," she turned and asked Alberto.

"Ok. As long as we stay below 10,000 feet we should be fine," he said.

Sarah had cut and dyed Chuck's hair to match one of the identities she made for him and slowly ran her fingers through his new hair. She missed his old haircut, but keeping him safe was more important.

"Don't worry Mija. You love the man not the hair," Alberto laughed.

"You're living proof of that," Selma replied as she winked at her bald headed husband.

"Ok we are ready to go," Selma said.

"I'll get the door," Sarah said as she jumped out and opened hanger door.

Selma expertly drove the little plane out of the hanger, while Sarah went back inside and opened several large drums. She soaked a few rags in two of them and then knocked one over on its side, spilling the contents on the floor. She then gathered all the bandages and medical supplies into a pile, along with Chuck's buymore clothes and id. Emptying his bag and wallet, she took only a few pictures out and left everything else. Satisfied that she had taken everything of value or could leave a trail to Chuck Bartowski, she lit a match and ignited one of the rags. While the fire burned, she slowly removed her CIA identification badge, and threw it in as well. In the eyes of the world, Chuck Bartowski was now dead, and so was Sarah Walker. She closed the hanger door on her way out, and by the time she reached the plane, some feint flames were visible slipping out from the inside.

"Did you match the fillings Alberto?"

"The best I can, but I'm not a dentist. Your boyfriend here has a bit of a sweet tooth," he said.

Sarah remained silent as Selma pushed the engine an upped the rpms.

"Stand by we are ready for take off," she said as she pushed the throttle and the plane accelerated down the darkened airstrip.

She expertly lifted off with 20 metered remaining on the runway and slowly climbed to her cruising altitude. They plane had no transponder, and provide she kept low and stayed out of range of the major airports, they should remain unnoticed. As Selma banked the plane Sarah saw that the hanger was now fully engaged, and was only a matter of time until every trace of her and Chuck's former lives would be gone forever. She realized in that moment just how much she had changed. Bryce was her former partner, and she had just killed him, but she didn't feel any remorse. It needed to be done, and once Graham would be able to, he would brand her a traitor and order her execution. At this moment she faced an uncertain future with no safe harbor provided by the government, but she didn't care.

Two years ago if she was in this situation, she would have been a basket case. The future is unknown, and the unknown is terrifying to a spy, but Sarah was not that person anymore, she was no longer a spy. All the skills that Graham had taught her to enable her to deceive and to kill, she would now use to love and protect. She was not afraid of the future or the unknown, because she had someone to face it with now. Her life would no longer be built on lies, but rather built on trust, and she would no longer live for the mission, but rather for her husband and children. She glanced back at the man who had rescued her heart and smiled. She would never hesitate to protect whom she loved, and would fight to the death to keep him safe.

Graham was not a man given to panic, but the reality of the situation he was facing bordered on hysteria. Not only had he failed to terminate the current intersect team, and lose his top choice for the new intersect, but now he was losing containment of the entire operation. He spent the majority of the last 20 years desperately trying to become the ultimate power broker in Washington, and now his legacy was hanging by a very thin thread.

 _Where did it all go wrong…_ he thought to himself as he looked out on the early spring snow from his office in Virginia.

 _Ironic how deeply the Bartowski's are involved in this_ …he mused

After he was able to secure the funding for the intersect project, he learned that the project had been in development longer then he imagined, and had never been successful. Since the end of the Second World War, the United States was in one form or another, trying to build the perfect soldier; and had made a major break though in the late 1960's with the development of more complex computer systems. The fusion of the human mind and a computer was an incredibly difficult challenge, but became a reality on June first 1971, as an agent designated Gemini was able to handle the download. The agent was the only one to survive the download of a pool of 120. The remaining candidates experiences severe neurological trauma caused by the intense heat associated with the highly increased neural processes, basically their brains boiled inside their skulls.

Gemini was a highly successful agent, but soon suffered extreme psychiatric problems. In a last ditch effort to save him, a new scientist, Steven Bartowski was brought in to help. Bartowski was able to redesign the intersect and did manage to stem some of the problems that Gemini experienced, but it was only temporary. Eventually the design failed and the problems returned, which lead to Gemini committing suicide; the fall out from which essentially splintered the Bartowski family.

Now Graham was going it alone as the NSA seemed to completely disavowal this operation. First, Beckman sealed castle, and now she cut off communications with him; he could smell a setup a mile away, and this certainly appeared to be the beginnings of one. His only option was to complete the mission and contain the situation, but he had already dug himself a pretty big hole. Larkin had been a mistake from the beginning, and now that mistake would cost him dearly. He always held out hope that he might be able to bring Walker back into the fold, but now that hope was gone. He had additional assets in route to Bryce's location immediately after the incident, but they were long gone by the time they got there. He wasn't surprised, Walker was his best and she was using everything she had learned to get away.

 _She would have made the perfect intersect…_ the intersect project was supposed to be my legacy, and now it was shaping up to be my albatross. _._ he thought as the quiet snow dropped peacefully down.

"I can't believe this! Have you learned nothing from before!"

"Look I understand your reservations," Beckman said.

"My reservations? Jesus Diane you make it sound like it was only a minor mistake what happened!"

"Look just hear me out please," she begged.

"I will, but only for Steven," he said.

After telling him of her plan, Beckman sat back and waited for his response. She knew not to rush it, as he was a highly analytical man, who rarely made a miscalculation or a mistake.

 _30 years as a ghost will make a man careful and guarded._ she thought.

"I can't imagine the hell that boy has been through. Absolutely no training and he is given this terrible hell," he said.

"We never anticipated that..,"

"That's your problem Diane! The government never anticipates! I told you to destroy this project 25 years ago!"

"We tried, but there was a need that Graham was able to constantly exploit to keep the funding alive."

"Of course they did," he said sarcastically.

"We need you help. Graham will stop at nothing to control the program, and send everything he has after the kid."

"That bastard has done enough to that family," he said.

"Well the president agrees with you," she said as she handed him a sheet of paper.

He reviewed the paper that she gave him.

"Why me," the man said.

"He wants the best," she said.

"Flattery is cheap," he said.

"Will you help us?"

"No. I won't help you."

"But...,"

"I will however help Steven's son. I owe him more then I can repay," he said solemnly.

"Thank you Hartley."

"Well Diane, always a pleasure, I will be taking my leave now. Please give my regards to the Major," he said as he got up to leave.

"Do you need anything for your..,"

He silenced her with a quick smile.

"You already have a plan? You knew about this didn't you?"

"Let's just say that director Graham and myself have had and appointment for a very long time," he said as he opened his umbrella.

"Very well Hartley good luck."

"You too Diane."

He slowly walked out of the park and seamlessly melded into the surroundings.

Five minutes later a at pulled up to the edge of the park, and Beckman got in.

"We lost him," Casey said as he merged with traffic.

"Of course you did," she said.

"We will pick him up again," he said.

"Nope John, the man is a ghost," she said.

"What's the story there Diane? What's the connection to Bartowski's father," Casey asked.

"Another time John," she said.

"Sure," he said.

"You know he didn't really look that legendary. Is he really that good," Casey asked.

Suddenly a text message from a blocked number came into Beckman's phone.

She read it and gave a smug smile.

"What? Everything alright? What does it say," Casey asked.

"It says have the major check his breast pocket," she said.

Casey reached into his pocket.

"Oh my god," he exclaimed.

"What does it say?"

"It says what do you think Major. What? How did he..," Casey said dumbfounded.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: I don't own chuck nor make any $ from it._

"Bring in the prisoner," Graham said as he waited in the interrogation room inside the fulcrum facility.

He had set this place up years ago as a private area that was away from the prying eyes of the government. Originally it had a legitimate purpose, but when his lust for power and the intersect took hold, he outfitted it to be his place of operations for fulcrum.

Millions of taxpayer dollars had been syphoned off from his operating budget, to build his own little bat cave, where he controlled and monitored all the activities of fulcrum. The door to the room opened, and a badly beaten body was pushed inside in a wheelchair. The arms were secured to the sides of the wheelchair, and the legs were broken. Dark bruises were visible on the face and arms, but the blue eyes still burned with hatred for the man across the table.

"I grow tired of this. Where is agent Walker," Graham said in a low voice.

Silence.

"I know that your legs are broken from our session yesterday," he said as he slowly got up and grabbed a baseball bat.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

Silence.

"Very well," he said as he brought the bat up and slammed it viciously down, striking one broken leg.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

"Where is she Agent Miller," he demanded.

Carina was in so much pain that she couldn't even cry. Her body ached with every beat of her heart, but she wouldn't give in. She wouldn't give Graham the satisfaction.

"Fuck you," she spat.

Thwack!

"Where is she!"

"Fuck...'

Thwack!

"Ahhhh..ahhh you..fuck..,ahhhhh,"

Thwack!

"Tell me now," he screamed!

She held out for a few more hours, but eventually she broke. He legs were shattered and her body was pulverized, but she tried her best to keep her friend safe, until her mind and will just couldn't hold out any longer. She was hoping that Sarah would be gone from her location by then.

Once he had the information Graham burst out of the room.

"She is heading for an air strip near a farm outside of Manitoba. Get the teams assembled and on their way. They will be briefed on the way," Graham said to the waiting man outside.

"And what about her," the man asked.

"Kill her," he said as he left.

"Yes sir," the man said as Graham rushed by him.

Carina could see the hazy outline of a man approach, assuming that he was going to kill her, an she welcomed it. Her pain was so great that she just wanted it over, she wanted to die. The man took the wheel chair and moved her out of the room and down the hallway. He pushed her past a few non-descript rooms and into a small darkened engineering room at the end of the hall. She was barely aware of her surroundings and was just waiting for the end now, when the light was turned on, illuminating several dead guards.

 _"Sorry for the mess my dear. I had to find the right sized uniform," he said with a chuckle._

 _"Now listen to me very carefully," he said as he knelt down in front of her._

 _"You did a wonderful job, and I am only sorry that I could not get here in time to spare you some of this. I'm taking you out of here. I don't care if you cry on me, bleed on me, or pee on me; you will always be a lady in my eyes. Now give me a smile and we will get out of here," he winked._

Carina couldn't help it, despite the pain that she was in, he was so kind and sweet that she gave him a soft smile.

 _"Alright my dear. Hold on tight," he said as he picked her up._

Thirty minutes later Carina was being laid down in an ambulance, and became aware of some familiar voices around her.

 _"Jesus Christ! What did he do to her," Beckman said._

 _"That evil son of a bitch," Casey said as she felt the engine start._

 _"I have a location. I will be there to meet the team," she heard the voice of her savior say._

 _"Do you need any help?"_

 _"No. I move faster alone," he said._

She heard the door close then saw the faces of a few paramedics along with John Casey above her.

 _"The guy infiltrates a fulcrum base and rescues the prisoner and nobody knows...amazing," Casey said._

 _"Well I told you he was good John," Beckman said._

"Whhhoo...whhhoo," Carina said.

"Carina! Can you hear me," Casey said as his face got larger.

"Y..yee..,"

"Don't talk. Just relax, you are ok now," Casey said as he put his hand on her forehead.

"Wwwhhh..wait...man was..who..was..man," Carina said fighting to stay awake.

"James Bond," Casey laughed.

Sarah was dozing in the copilot seat when she felt the plane decelerate, and it stirred her. They had been flying for a few hours, and based on flight time and air speed, she figured they were close to their target.

"Good you're up. We are about 20 miles out," Selma said.

"How did you sleep," she asked.

"Ok I guess," Sarah said even though she was never really out.

"Anything interesting happen," Sarah asked as she checked on a sleeping Chuck and Alberto.

"Nope. Alberto said he is doing well. Alberto just needed to close his eyes for a few minutes," Selma said.

"Of course," Sarah replied.

"We got a pretty good tailwind, so we should be about an hour early."

"Sounds good. Our next transport will be there in 4 hours based on the schedule," Sarah said.

"You really have this thought out well," Selma said.

"Not really. Just trying to stay ahead of them," she replied.

"The man who came at the hanger. You knew him, yes?" Selma said.

"Yes. He is someone from my past," Sarah said nervously.

Selma was quiet for a few minutes sensing Sarah's hesitation with the last answer.

"What's wrong," Selma asked her.

"Nothing," Sarah replied.

"Really Sarah? You are going to lie to me now."

"I'm not lying," Sarah said defensively.

"You shouldn't feel bad Mija," Selma said.

"What are you talking about ," Sarah asked.

"You feel bad about what you did, don't you?"

"No. I love Chuck! I didn't what I had to do," Sarah said.

"Of course you did. I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about your past," Selma said.

"It's just that sometimes I feel like..I feel like I'm not the kind of..never mind," Sarah said.

"What? Tell me," Selma said.

"I just think maybe I'm unsure of myself. I mean I thought I was, but I just killed a man and I didn't care. I just think sometimes I'm still that monster," she said.

"How can I be a wife or a mother! I'm a killer," Sarah said with tears.

"Nonsense Sarah! You are a good person," Selma said.

"No I'm not," she cried.

Selma let her cry for a few minutes then softly began to speak.

"My father once took me out for a hike outside of town, and we saw that there were two wolves fighting. One white wolf was defending her puppies from a grey wolf that was trying to eat them. He told me as we watched that the same kind of battle is going on in him, and in every person."

"What battle?"

"The white wolf represents love, sacrafice, compassion, and good. While the grey represented fear, greed, gluttony, and hate."

"What happened?"

"The white wolf eventually drove the grey one off, but he said that that might not always be the case when it comes to the battle for ones soul. Sometimes the grey wolf will win in someone's hart, that the evil will defeat the good."

"You are saying I'm evil," Sarah said sadly.

"Huh? What no!"

"You just said that sometimes the evil will win! The evil has won with me," Sarah cried.

"No Sarah just listen. The evil has not won with you, the good has," she said.

"I don't understand."

"You see Mija, the wolf that will win the battle inside of your soul, is the wolf that you feed."

"How," she asked.

"With love Sarah."

"How do I do that though? I don't want to screw up with him," she said.

"You are just afraid Sarah. You won't screw up with him. The two of you love each other too much for that to ever happen. You have a good heart Sarah. As much crap as they made you do, as much as they fed the grey wolf inside of you, you fed the white wolf. You have given your soul the strength it needs to win the battle."

"Because of Chuck," Sarah said.

"No! Because of you," Selma said.

"I don't know Selma, I never really knew what love was before Chuck," Sarah said.

"Oh please! You are as dense as Alberto," she said.

"The first time you met your Chuck, you knew there was something different about him. Correct?"

"Well yeah but..,"

"That's it Mija. That's love."

"Wait no..,"

"Did you feel that with anybody else," Selma asked.

"Well I've been attracted to other guys at first yes," Sarah said.

"It's not attraction. Attraction burns quick and then is gone, it is a primal urge or desire. Love is a spark inside of you that will either grow or die depending on how it's fed," she said.

"Yes but he caused the spark," Sarah replied.

"No Mija. You did. If you never had love to give in your soul then the spark would have never been alive to grow. A good heart has love in it, and a good soul will always protect that love."

"You are responsible for everyone in this plane being alive right now, and we all love you dearly," Selma said.

"Well I love all of you too," Sarah said weeping softly.

"Exactly! So enough of this doubt! You are going to be a fantastic wife and mother, so stop being afraid and let your heart be free."

"Thank you Selma. I can never thank you enough for all you have done for me," Sarah said as she gripped her hand.

"You never have to thank me Mija, in my eyes you will always be my daughter," Selma smiled back through her own tears as her hand momentarily slipped off the control causing the little plane to slightly shutter.

"Hey is everything ok up there," Alberto said as the movement stirred him from his sleep.

"Yes we are fine," Selma said.

"Ok..wait are you crying? you both are crying, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Alberto. We were just talking about Sarah wedding," Selma winked at her.

"Ah don't give her any ideas Sarah. The woman is obsessed when it comes to weddings," Alberto joked.

"I can tell," Sarah laughed.

"So you got a guy picked out," he joked.

"Maybe," she said shyly.

"Well I will have to scare the life out of him when he wakes up," he joked.

"Alberto," Selma scolded.

"Hey just making sure he is the right guy," he joked.

"He is the right guy," Sarah said.

When Graham realized what had happened he almost had a stroke. Not only had he now lost a prisoner, which he had illegally abducted and detained from another government agency, but also his security had been breached at the fulcrum base. He was now officially out of time, but Graham was a survivor. His CIA office had been sealed and there was now an official manhunt for him, but he was able to detach a team to go after Walker, before he left DC. He had a safe house in Europe that he had not used in 30 years, but he always kept it for a rainy day, and now it was pouring.

As he drove through the mountains near Mandach Switzerland, he turned down an old shepherd's rode that time had forgotten. At the end of the road was an old chalet, whose paint had long ago lost the battle to the rough Swiss winters, but had remained intact due to solid alpine wood construction. He pulled out his gun as he slowly cased the outside of the building, checking for any signs of threats. Finding none, he cautiously opened the door to a world sealed for over 30 years. Long cobwebs and mountains of dust, seemed to grow from light fixtures and furniture. He made his way over to the fireplace and popped open the ancient flue, to begin making a fire.

He didn't have many options at the moment, but he still had plenty of European contacts and favors, which should keep him safe until he could be strong enough again to strike back. Langston Graham would be back he thought to himself, and hell would come with him.

Selma came up on the airstrip, bordering a lake with some old abandoned fishing cabins, and gently touched down for a perfect landing. The next transport for their journey would be here soon, but they needed to hide the plane before a satellite could pass over. Sarah had gotten the times from Casey for the high def NSA satellites and orbit schedules, and used it to plan the trip. The satellite would pass over in 49 minutes, and their transport should arrive in a little over 3 hours, so they needed to hide the plane in the field and then stay in one of the cabins until the transport came.

As the plane came to a stop, Selma and Sarah covered the plane with a camouflage tarp material, which would obscure any satellite image, while Alberto slowly got Chick ready to move. Once they were finished, Sarah handed Selma a set of keys and went to help with Chuck.

"Which cabin," Selma asked.

"The first one on the right," Sarah replied as she gripped Chuck under the shoulders, while Alberto got his legs.

Up on the far ridge above the abandoned cabins snaked a form dressed entirely in black, through the heavy underbrush. The black form raised a rifle and surveyed below him.

"Leader this is 5, I have eyes on targets."

"Roger 5. Position?"

"500 meters southwest of your current position."

"Roger. 2 this is leader. Continue your course and hold at the edge of the field. Take a flanking position on the east side."

"Roger leader."

"3 and 4 you are with me. We will be the breach team."

"Roger leader," came a reply in unison.

Sarah and Alberto laid Chuck down on the lower bunk bed, as Selma brought in their bags.

"Do we have anything to eat," Alberto said.

"Yeah I have some MREs in my bag. Help yourself," Sarah said.

"Thanks," he said as he opened he bag and found the food.

"What time are they coming to pick us up?"

"They should be here in a little over 3 hours," Sarah said.

"Anybody else want anything? I got beef stew, chicken and rice, some sort of Italian thing, and something that looks like eggs," Alberto said.

"I'll have the chicken and rice," Selma said.

"I'll have the beef stew," Sarah replied.

"Can I have the eggs," came a soft voice from the corner.

"Chuck! You're awake! Alberto," Sarah said as she ran to his side, followed by Alberto.

"Hey," he said softly as Sarah crashed on top of him.

"Sarah easy. He is still weak," Alberto said.

"Oh god Chuck I'm sorry," she said.

"No it's ok. I don't mind," he laughed.

Alberto pulled her off him, and when he saw his face he flashed.

"Chuck my name is..,"

"Dr. Alberto Lopez. Born in Argentina in 1963, captured by the Ruiz Cartel in 2004. Terminated in 2005 by Agent Sarah Walker," he said mechanically.

"What? How did you know..Sarah dis you tell him," Alberto asked.

"No Alberto, but I told you he is special," she said as she winked at Chuck.

"Don't worry Alberto, you can trust him," Sarah said.

"Ok," he said uneasily.

"Let me check you out. Could you ladies please excuse us for a few minutes," Alberto said.

"No I'm not going anywhere," Sarah said as she held his arm.

"Come Mija, let Alberto do his work and let's get you some food, then you can come back and stay with him," Selma said.

"No. I'm not..,"

"Sarah I will be ok. I promise. Go get something to eat," Chuck said as he squeeze her hand.

"Ok I will be right back," she said got up and approached his lips for a kiss.

"But Sarah my..,"

"I don't care about your breath Chuck, just shut up," she said and kissed him.

"I'll be right back," she said as she and Selma left.

"Ok Chuck let's have a look at you," Alberto said as he took out a penlight and began to examine him.

About ten minutes later Alberto came out of the room with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Is everything ok," Sarah said when she saw his face.

"Good God! Does the man ever shut up," he said in frustration.

"He talks a lot when he gets nervous," Sarah said with a smile.

"Well then he must be scared to death," he mumbled.

"Can I see him," she asked.

"Sure. Just remember..," was as at as he got before Sarah was in the room with Chuck.

"...that he is still weak, but he should be ok," Alberto finished his thought as he went in and close the door behind them.

"That girl is a ball of fire," Alberto said as he sat down next to Selma at the table.

"Yes but he can handle her," Selma said.

"Well he better, because he has her for life," Alberto said as he dug into his meal.

"Oh these are terrible," he said in frustration.

Sarah was cuddled up with Chuck on the bed, straining the weight capacity of the ancient timbers, and coiled around him like a python. This was the first time in a week that she had even been remotely able to relax, and as she held him tight, she could actually feel her body begin to relax.

"Thank you Sarah for saving my life again. I can never thank you enough for all you do for me," he said solemnly.

"You don't need to thank me Chuck, besides Alberto was the one who really did most of it anyway," she said.

"No he didn't. It was you Sarah that got me out of there and brought me here. You who had the plan to get those bags ready for us long before I ever saw any danger. And you who is with me right now, the person I love most in the world," he said as he kissed her lightly on the head.

"I love you too Chuck. I can't imagine my life without you," Sarah said slowly.

"You know I think maybe you were wrong about the lost cause thing, I think maybe I was the lost cause," he said.

"Really," she said.

"Yeah. Before I met you I had no direction, no goal, and really no life. Then you came in and gave me a purpose, but I don't mean the spy stuff," he said.

"Oh no..," she said softly.

"No. I realized that my purpose in life Sarah is you. I don't want to do anything in my life besides be with you, and I never want to be without you," he said.

"Oh..so..sweat...me too," she said.

"This is not the right time or place, but I want to marry you Sarah. I want you to be my wife," he said.

Silence.

"Sarah?"

"Sarah?"

He felt her tighten her grip on her as she softly snored away. The exhaustion of the last few days had finally overcome her and took over.

"Oh fantastic. Perfect timing," he laughed.

"It's ok you get some sleep," he said as he kissed her and gave a yawn and closed his eyes, never noticing the happy smile on her face.

The team moved like wraiths through the darkened night, advancing on the cabin with slow deliberate steps.

"2 this is leader. What is your status?"

"Leader this is 2. I'm in position. I see faint lights on in cabin, but no visible movement."

"Roger. 5 this is leader. What is your status?"

Silence.

"5 this is leader report!"

Silence.

"Team this is leader all stop," he said as he put up his hand in a closed fist, and the team took cover positions in the nearby vegetation.

"2 can you see 5 from your position?"

"Leader this is 2. I don't have a visual. Nothing on the thermal scope."

"4 this is leader. Go back and check on 5, pick up 2 on your way."

"Leader this is 4 roger," he said and he was off.

"2 and 4 this is leader. Keep me updated. 3 keep up a cover position."

"Roger."

"Leader this is 2 we are advancing on the last position of 5."

"Roger. Use caution."

They waited in silent night for the an update, but after a few minutes nothing came.

"2 this is leader report!"

Silence.

"4 this is leader report!"

Silence.

Suddenly he heard a dull thud off to his left in the darkness.

"3 this is leader report!"

Silence

"Anyone report! Tack team report!"

"Who the hell is out there," he called with panic into the night.

"Me," came a voice as a knife plunged underneath his bulletproof vest, collapsing his lung and silently ending his life.

After dispatching Grahams hit team and sweeping the area for possible reinforcements, Hartley slowly and cautiously approached the cabin. He needed to make contact with Chuck and Sarah, but he also needed to be very cautious. He knew that Walker was a hair trigger and didn't want to get involved in any more unpleasant situations tonight.

He needed to get Chuck to flash on him before Walker interviewed, that way Chuck would know whom he was and Sarah would be easier to handle. He doubted that Chuck would remember, but he had met him on several occasions when he was younger. Steven would bring Hartley home to work on fixing the intersect, and over time he grew quite fond of the family, sharing family dinners, and even taught Chuck how to play chess. Steven was a good friend, and the only one who ever helped him, once the intersect began malfunctioning. When the government was ready to move on and forget about him, Steven never did.

Sarah and Chuck were at her favorite place in the world, they were walking on the beach at sunset. The early autumn air was still relatively warm and a few beach goers were still in the water, presumably truing to squeeze one more minute into the already evaporated summer.

"Have I ever told you that this is my favorite place in the world ," she said as she clutched his arm tightly.

"Maybe once or twice. You know you are a pretty easy date," he said to her smiling.

"Oh really? Why do you say that?"

"Because after all the exotic places you have been; who would have thought that the 46th street beach would have been the top choice."

"I can assume your escort has something to do with it," he joked.

"Maybe just a little," she laughed back.

"You know there were sometimes when I never thought we would get here," she said.

"Oh I always knew we would," he laughed back.

"Really Mr. Bartowski? And may I ask why?"

"Simple Mrs. Bartowski. Someone told me that fell in love with me on our first date," he replied.

"Oh really," she mocked.

"Yes."

"And how did you secure this information might I ask?"

"From a spy."

"A spy? Who?"

"I'll give you a little hint. 37 inches of blonde hair and insanity."

"I don't believe you? Will you ever listen to me"

"Nope."

"I told you to stop calling her that!"

"Well I can't help it that she takes after her momma now can I? But by the way she did you proud. It took two cookies to get it out of her."

"Oh she has got you wrapped around her little finger," Sarah said.

"Well like mother like daughter I guess," Chuck replied.

"Such an easy mark," Sarah laughed.

"Was I really that easy, he asked.

"Do you honestly want me to answer that," she laughed.

"Well I'll tell you one thing Mrs. Bartowski."

"What's that?"

"There is no way Maradona was better then Messi!"

"Huh?"

Suddenly Sarah began to hear far away voices and a rumbling in her ear.

"Chuck?"

He slowly went out of focus and was replaced by a white light, so intense she needed to shut her eyes. When she opened them she saw that she was in her other favorite place, as she had obviously fallen asleep with her head on Chuck's chest. She laid still listening to her surroundings, and to her surprise heard a very animated conversation going on between Alberto and Chuck. The ringing in her ears was Chuck's voice reverberating in his chest. She wanted to stop him from getting too animated and tell him to rest more, but the comforting feeling she had of having him back gave her an excuse to listen a bit more.

"You Americans have no real appreciation for the game! Messi couldn't do half of what Maradona could," Alberto bellowed.

"I just don't think he was as skilled as Messi," Chuck replied.

"Not as skilled? Have you ever seen the goal of the century! He went through an entire team for God's sake," Alberto cried in exasperation.

"Will you quiet down," Selma said as she walked into the room.

"I'm just..,"

"Alberto! Sarah is still sleeping," she said with anger.

"No it's ok I'm awake. And no Selma their discussion didn't wake me," Sarah said trying to get Alberto off the hook.

"See," Alberto said motioning to Sarah, as Selma looked at him with fire in her eyes.

"Out! Out! Now! Give them some privacy," Selma said.

"I was just in here to check on him," He protested.

"And how is he doing?"

"Well he is doing ok but...,"

"Then why are you still here," Selma demanded.

"But I..,"

"Now Alberto!"

"Fine...yeah he is fine except for the brane damage if he thinks Messi is better then Maradona," he mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that," she snapped!

"Of course you hear everything," he huffed.

"I'm sorry Selma I didn't mean to get Alberto into trouble," Chuck said.

"Oh nonsense! He has been in trouble for 20 years!"

"I guess it's not smart to argue with an Argentinian about Maradona, a sore subject for him I guess."

"Oh you don't know how right you are."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm originally from Brazil, and I follow them. He was working all the time when the children were babies, so when I would watch football, we would watch Brazil. He has never been able to get over the fact that all of his children think Pele was better then Maradona. He blames me for it," she laughed.

"No really? Wow that is rough," Chuck replied laughing as well.

"Yes. Pele was better then both of them anyway. Now you two get a bit more rest and I will bring some food to you in a bit. We have a long journey today," she said.

"Thank you Selma," they both said in unison as she left.

"So a long journey huh," Chuck said as he looked over at Sarah.

"Uh huh. Pretty much," she yawned as she put her head back on his chest.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere away from here," she replied.

"You're not going to tell me?"

"Nope. How are you feeling," she asked.

"Good tactics Agent Walker," Hartley said as he entered the room.

"Chuck! Down," Sarah screamed as she launched herself at Hartley.

With almost super human speed, Hartley sidestepped her lunge, and quickly put her in a hold that completely immobilized her, and started down Alberto and Selma with a menacing glare as they burst into the room.

"Chuck run," Sarah screamed in a panic as she realized that she could do nothing against her attacker.

"Calm down Agent Walker. I am here to help. I mean no harm to any of you,"

"Chuck," Sarah yelled as she saw him like wide eyed at the man behind her.

"Sarah I know him! You used to come to my house! We played chess," he said while still shocked.

"Ah you remember Charles," Hartley smiled.

"Chuck! What's going on? Who are you," she screamed.

"Oh my god! Sarah that's Gemini!"


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: I don't own nor make any $ from Chuck. Thank you for all the reviews they are the best compensation!_

"She is overdue".

"John calm down. Things have..,"

"Walker is never overdue. Graham got her location from Miller, and now she is overdue on check-in with me," Casey said with a slight edge of panic.

"You need to relax. Walker and Bartowski are fine. They are with Hartley," Beckman replied.

"Hartley? How?"

"He went up after he rescued Carina. He took out Graham's strike team," Beckman said flatly.

"Why wasn't I informed about this," he said angrily.

"Because I need you here John! You are the best I've got! The NSA has been given complete control over the intersect project, and the first order of business is cleaning up Graham's mess."

"This is your assignment John. It comes

right from 1600," Beckmann said as she handed him a folder.

The 1600 designation meant that it was a presidential order, Casey didn't have to be a psychic to realize a wet mission was coming his way.

Casey silently read through the folder and made some observations, before closing it and addressing Beckman.

"So this is Graham's banker?"

"Yes. It seems he is the source of all

Of Grahams funding. The president is moving quickly to eradicate fulcrum. Your mission will be the tip of the spear."

"What about the European theater?"

"Plans are underway there as well. Graham was paranoid and seemed to be running a fairly low level operation in Europe. Most of his executive structure was here at home," Beckman replied.

"Good."

"Any special conditions?"

"No civilian casualties of course."

"Of course ma'am," Casey replied.

"But aside from that, you are authorized to use any means necessary. I believe that the president would like a message sent," Beckman said.

"Yes ma'am," Casey replied.

Casey was silent for a minute and still a little hurt that he wasn't given the opportunity to help his friends, but Beckman was right, he was her best and she needed him now.

"what's on your mind John," Beckman said as she saw his somber mood.

"Off the record. How good is Hartley?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because two people that I care about very much are being hunted by this psychopath Graham! The fact that I'm not with them right now is..is..a nightmare," Casey said in a rare show of emotion.

Beckman smiled when she saw him soften a bit, it seemed that Bartowski had definitely affected both agents on his detail.

"Well John you know that I am not very religious, nor prone to exaggeration," she began.

"Yes I do."

"But every day I thank God that Hartley is on our side," she said.

"Really? That good," Casey asked with eyes wide.

"Oh yes. Hartley would give the devil himself nightmares."

Boris Koslov looked out from his balcony and breathed in the sweet smell of jasmine. It was a beautiful evening in suburban Philadelphia, and the garden party at his palatial estate was in full swing. The expertly manicured landscape had yet to experience the oppressive August humidity, which breeds the tyrannical mosquitos, often the scourge of any summer activity; allowing the guests to enjoy their evening outside. The party was a fundraiser for the local food bank, and the elite of Philadelphia and local celebrities, ironically supplied a donation to end hunger, while excessively feasting on horrifically overpriced French cuisine.

Shortly after immigrating to the United States, Koslov had spent many of the previous 30 years cultivating the social and political scene, in an attempt to finally join with the other elites. The son of a mining engineer, whose family owned a titanium mine in Russia, he was born into a life of wealth and privilege. During the twilight of the Cold War, he spent his formative years learning the family trade, and selling titanium to anyone he could find, including foreign governments. It was on one of these occasions that he came to know Langston Graham.

Their partnership began when the US was in need of a vast supply of titanium for construction of a new spy plane, and Langston Graham was given the assignment. He was able to procure the titanium from Koslov in exchange for extraction to America, and bloated government contracts. An arrangement, which after the fall of the Berlin Wall, made Koslov many billions of dollars.

He made so much money in fact, that he was able to help his old friend in a new endeavor, Fulcrum. The operating capital that he provided Graham enabled fulcrum to become the most powerful shadow organization in the world. Koslov had arranged the fundraiser to help support one of his former lawyers, in his quest to run for a local seat in congress. Power an influence were just commodities to him, and he happily accepted the opportunity to expand his sphere of influence.

Hartley was sitting in a chair facing next to Chuck's bed, finishing up a cup of coffee that Selma had given him.

"Thank you again for the coffee, and once again please except my sincere apologies if I frightened you. I was never going to hurt you, but I needed you to think I would," he said.

"Well it worked very well," Sarah said with more then a little hint of anger.

She was sitting on Chuck's bed, protectively positioned between him and Hartley, while Selma and Alberto had adjourned to the other room.

"No it's ok, we understand. I thought that you were..ah..,"

"Dead Charles? "

"Ah yeah," Chuck replied.

"Well things aren't always as they seem," Hartley replied with a chuckle.

"I know! I mean ever since I started working for…,"

"Why are you here," Sarah said with a tinge of hostility as she interrupted Chuck.

"To help," Hartley replied.

"We don't need your help," Sarah said.

"Please Agent Walker, I'm not trying to encroach on your abilities as an agent. I'm here for my own reasons. First the parameters that you were operating under have changed," he said.

"Is that right? How have they changed," she said.

"Graham took your friend Carina. He knows that you are here," Hartley said.

"Carina? Is she alive," she asked with a trace of panic.

"Yes, for now. She has been extracted but had some pretty bad injuries. You must assume now that every part of your plan that she knew, Graham also knows."

"That son of a bitch," she snapped as she got up and began pacing the floor like a caged animal.

"I'm going to kill him," she snapped.

"That would not be the wisest of decisions," he said as he sipped the coffee.

"Don't bet on it," she said.

"Sarah look just calm down..,"

"Not now Chuck," she said as the rage boiled inside of her.

"Agent Walker I think you should listen to Charles, you are not thinking clearly. What do you hope to accomplish with killing Graham?"

"I am clear! I will get revenge on that bastard for all the evil he has done," she said.

"All the evil he has done huh? I think that might be above your skill level," Hartley laughed.

"Don't test me," she sneered.

"OK agent Walker, you believe that you are thinking clearly?"

"Absolutely," she replied.

"Would you be thinking clearly by exposing yourself to Graham again?"

"I only need one shot," Sarah said with anger.

"And that's your problem. Need," he said.

"What the hell are you talking about," she said.

"You NEED."

"What?"

"Need is a liability in this business. It is born out of emotion. Perhaps if you detach yourself emotionally from the situation and get a little clarity, you will have better success in the future," he said casually.

"Don't tell me how to do my job! I am thinking clearly," she said angrily.

"And were you thinking clearly when you told Carina part of your plan?"

"She didn't know the whole plan..,"

"She knew enough for Graham to send a five man kill team up here," she said.

"Wait what? Where are they," Chuck interrupted.

"They are dead," Hartley said as he casually sipped his coffee.

He didn't say he killed them, and he didn't have to. The color drained out of Sarah's face as she realized her mistake. She had left a loose end, which Graham was able to follow to their location. She had contacted Carina about running with Chuck, long before she even made the bags, but she knew Graham was ruthless, and should of anticipated the danger she put her friend in. Now she also exposed Chuck to the danger as well, her emotions were getting the best of her.

"A professional courtesy Agent Walker," he said as he looked t her.

He didn't need to tell her all the mistakes she had made, but his phrase highlighted the most important. He could have just as easily said I will not be hear next time to bail you ass out, it had the same meaning.

"Thank you," Sarah said.

"Pleasure," Hartley replied.

"Now may I presume that you and Charles intend on disappearing for the foreseeable future?"

"Yes," Sarah replied.

"Then perhaps I can be of further assistance. Charles this is for you," Hartley said as he took a small box out of his pocket.

"What's this," Chuck said as Hartley handed him the box.

"It's something that your father wanted you to have."

"My father? I haven't seen him in ..,"

"Yes I know, but he wanted you to have this."

Chuck opened the box, which contained an antique looking watch.

"I don't understand," Chuck said.

"Your father wanted you to know the full story of the first successful human intersect," Hartley said.

"But I already know your story, it's in the intersect. That's how I knew you were Gemini," Chuck said.

"It's not my story Charles. It's yours," he said.

"His story?"

"Yes Agent Walker, Charles is the first human intersect."

Always one to make a grand entrance, Koslov was waiting for the bulk of his guests to arrive before he joined the party, and went back inside the house to finish getting ready. After a hot shower, which turned his skin pink, he went into his closet to pick out his suite for the evening.

"This is the one," he said as he picked out a double-breasted black pinstripe.

He turned to head back to his room, when suddenly an arm came out from between his wardrobe and pulled him inside. He tried to scream but a giant hand clamped over his mouth and a steel arm tightened around his neck. He lashed out at his attacker, but his blows had no affect, and pressure around his neck continued to tighten. Dark edges were forming in his field of vision, as his oxygen starved brain was shutting downs attend in a futile attempt to keep him alive. Very quickly his vision was gone as the black overtook him and he lost consciousness.

His attacker kept the pressure up, like an anaconda sensing the heartbeat of his pray, he squeezed until it ceased. The extensive cloths collection effectively soundproofed the room, and barely a sound was generated when his lifeless body hit the floor.

Allison Wagner was a local TV reporter for the social scene, and was very excited to be at Koslov's party. The event was packed with celebrities and power brokers, who were always willing to give her a good sound bite.

She was in the middle of fending off the advances of TV meteorologist, when a high-pitched shriek cut through the low din of the party.

It sounded like a woman being assaulted, and she joined a mob of people that were heading in the direction that the shriek had come from. Suddenly a chorus of screams erupted the closer the mob got to the source, and when Allison reached the front, her voice joins the chorus as well.

Boiling in the hot tub, was the bloated corpse of Boris Koslov.

"I don't understand? I just got the intersect last year, but you were uploaded 30 years ago," Chuck said.

"Technically you are correct about that," Hartley said as he pulled a box out of his tactical bag.

"Then how is Chuck the first human intersect," Sarah pressed.

"I will get to that in a moment, but first I need to ask you a question Charles," Hartley said.

"Yeah..sure anything," Chuck said a little frazzled at Hartley's revelation.

" I wonder if you would like to play a game of chess," he said as he opened up the box containing a finely refined chess set.

"Chess?"

"Yes Charles. Do you still play?"

"Well not that much anymore. Is that the..,"

"Yes Charles it's the same one I taught you on. I knew that you would remember," Hartley said smiling.

Chuck picked up the white queen, which had been exquisitely carved from marble and ha two red rubies for eyes.

"This was always my...,"

The flash hit him as soon as he focused on her eyes.

"Excuse me but what does any of this have to do with..Chuck? Chuck...Alberto!"

Sarah rushed to him as she saw the flash hit and his body began to convulse.

"Hold him tight Agent Walker. This is going to be a big one," Hartley said while helping Sarah hold him down.

"What have you done to him," she cried.

"Calm down Agent Walker. It will be over soon. His movement is just displacement of energy from his neural activity," Hartley said.

"It's what? What is happening to him," she screamed as Alberto came in and helped to hold him down.

"Sarah what's wrong," Alberto said trying to hold his legs down.

"He is having a seizure," Sarah cried.

"No. He is learning his history," Hartley said.

 _Chuck nearly passed out as a billion images flooded through his brain. He saw images from his childhood and multiple suppressed memories appeared and manifested in his mind. He was standing in his father's study staring at a blank TV screen and his father's voice was reverberating in his head._

 _You're special son...you're special son...you're special son._

 _Then his mind flashed to another memory of playing chess with Hartley._

 _"Chuck I want you to play chess with my friend here. His name is Tim ," his at her said and he introduced him to the man he knew today as Hartley._

 _"He is interested in learning the stonewall attack."_

 _Stone wall attack...stonewall attack..stone wall attack._

 _Then he saw his parents and Hartley talking in private._

 _"Steven once they find out about your son, they will come for him. Graham will come," Hartley said._

 _"I should have killed Graham long ago. It's my fault," Mary said._

 _"He was your partner Mary. You had no way to know what he was going to do," Steven said._

 _"That's beside the point now," Hartley said._

 _"_ _He is going to go after the kids Steven," Mary said._

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"It makes sense, he wants the intersect. Once he found out about how you might be able to fix it, he wanted to salvage it. He has his own team of scientists ready to work on my brain, an your son's, and probably your daughter's as well," Hartley said._

 _"Why Ellie?"_

 _"They will come her too, she is a blood relative and could have similar genetics. In any even, she will never be safe either," Hartley said._

 _He will always be hunted... He will always be hunted ...we need to protect them both..._

"He needs a hospital!"

Sarah's voice cut through the fog and brought him back to the present, as she was frantically trying to understand what was going on.

"Sarah..wait..I'm..," Chuck whispered.

"Chuck are you ok," Sarah said as she held his head.

"Sarah, my mom is a spy!"

"So what you are saying is that Chuck's father did not design the original intersect?"

"That's correct Agent Walker," Hartley replied.

Chuck was sitting up on the bed with Sarah curled up next to him, as Alberto carefully monitored his condition.

"It had been designed years before, but what Steven was able to do was successfully integrate it with the neural network."

"How," Sarah asked.

"By the Chess games," Chuck answered.

"Very good Charles," Hartley smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll need to go back a bit to answer that question Agent Walker," Hartley said.

"The first version of the intersect was an unmitigated disaster. Everyone who had ever tried to download it had either died, or been driven clinically insane."

"Which category do you fall under," Alberto chimed in.

"Well obviously insanity," Hartley replied with a chuckle.

"I don't doubt it."

"Alberto! Really," Selma shouted.

"I was able to last a bit longer then the others, but eventually my mental deterioration began to manifest itself. Fortunately for me it was right about the time that I met Charles," Hartley said.

"But how did Chuck help you," Sarah pressed.

"Charles had inadvertently downloaded a version of the intersect that Steven was analyzing."

"Jesus! Did you ever freaking listen? What were you thinking," Sarah said.

"I didn't do it intentionally."

"You could have been killed!"

"Yes, but he wasn't killed, and that was the key. As a matter of fact he was fine and Steven couldn't figure out why," Hartley interrupted.

"It was during this time that Steven tried to help me."

"Help you?"

"Yes Agent Walker. I was a malfunction and we know what the government does with malfunctions. Anyway by studying Charles's brain functions he was able to understand why the intersect didn't seem to hurt him and then used that information to help me."

"Studying his brain functions," Alberto asked.

"Chess," Chuck replied.

"Correct. The thought patterns, the strategy and of course the dreaded stonewall attack," Hartley said.

"But why chess?"

"Well when I was playing chess with Charles, I was normal person. We didn't know why at first, but eventually Steven discovered that playing chess stimulates different parts of the brain, and used that information to design a governor which would automatically stimulate the required sections of my brain and helped me control my insanity."

"A governor?"

"This," Hartley said as he showed him his watch.

"That's the one he made for you," Hartley said as he pointed to the antique watch.

"But I don't need it. I feel fine," Chuck said.

"Yes you do now, but you might not always. This is such a new field that it's possible that you may begin to deteriorate in the future," Hartley said.

"Your father wanted to make sure that you would always be protected against any mental deterioration. You just wear it like a watch," he said.

Well I don't think I need to put it on now..,"

"Chuck put the goddamn watch on now. Here," Sarah said as she put it on his wrist.

Immediately Chuck felt some tension begin to fade away in his head.

"Oh wow...that a..that feels..,"

"That little headache go away," Hartley laughed.

"Oh yeah," Chuck replied.

"What headache," Sarah said.

"The one he didn't tell you about," Hartley laughed.

"Sarah relax its nothing," Chuck said.

"It's not nothing! You are not supposed to be keeping anything from me!"

"I wasn't. I just...I thought...it was normal," he said.

"How long have you had it," she said.

"I don't know...maybe a year..,"

"A Year!"

"I don't freaking believe you...,"

"Wonderful Agent Walker. I knew I was right about you," Hartley interrupted.

"What the hell does that mean," Sarah said as her attention flashed back to Hartley.

"There are some things you need to know too...Sarah."


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Don't own or make any $ from Chuck_

Casey finished his initial review of the new assignment that ha been given to him, and called in his report to Beckman.

"The Koslov situation has been resolved."

"Very good John. How is the situation with Musgrave and Williamson?"

"Preliminary planning is done. They will be resolved in 48 hours."

"Very good. Any questions?"

"Just one ma'am. Are we still operating under the same conditions?"

"Yes. Once these two are taken care of, the operation on Graham will be initiated."

"What about my request ma'am," he asked.

"Unfortunately John I will have to deny it. Graham is a very well protected man right now. His contacts in Europe will be able to hide him from us very effectively."

"I understand ma'am but I'm the best that you have," he said.

"I'm not denying that John, but unfortunately due to diplomatic relations, we just don't "scare" his contacts enough into giving him up," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"We are military John. We have to operate by the book and they know that over there, so they won't budge."

"So we are just going to let him go," Casey said with anger.

"Our hands are tied."

Casey felt the bile rise up as he heard the political bullshit she spat, and was about to tell her when she finished her statement.

"But off the record. Graham is going to get a visit from an old friend very soon, and trust me when I tell you that it's going to be a night to remember."

Sarah panicked as she thought of the implications of his statement. She would never apologize for what she did in the field in service of her country, but there were definitely things that she wasn't proud of. She

didn't want Chuck to know the extent of her involvement in some missions, particularly ones where the agency used her as a whore. She knew that Chuck would never hold it against her, but the thought of having people that she cared about and loved having knowledge of these actions, terrified her to the bone.

Chuck saw her reaction and squeezed her hand just reaffirming the faith she had in him that he accepted her for who she was.

Sarah smiled at how well he knew her, and gave her exactly what she needed; he showed her that he understood her. Sarah Walker was a complicated woman, and women by nature are masters at communicating without vocalizing their meaning. To understand a woman, you need to really listen, not just to what she says, but also more importantly, to what she doesn't say. The body language, the eye contact, and the different reactions she has to things are all ways that she is communicating.

 _This was his way of communicating to her that I already know all I need to know about you. Nothing you tell me will change how I feel about you._

"What do you mean," Chuck asked.

"Oh come now Charles did you really believe that everything that has happened to you was purely by chance," Hartley asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Paidi," Hartley said and immediately began to flash

"I apologize Charles," Hartley said as Chuck rubbed his temples.

"What's going on? What is Paidi," Sarah said as she attended to Chuck's flash.

"Paidi is..," Hartley began before being interrupted by Chuck.

"Sarah, Paidi was the code name of a special program developed during the end of the Cold War to preform psychological experiments on children!"

"My God! Why?"

"Memory suppression," Hartley said.

"They would subject them to psychological testing to suppress their memories? Why! Why would they do this," Chuck said to Hartley.

"Assassinations," he said.

"What!"

"The idea was to begin indoctrinating assassins at an early age, by suppressing their memories, they thought they would be able to weed out any emotion or moral objection and make them into killers from the ground up. From a strategic standpoint, children would be less likely to be viewed as a threat by an enemy, allowing them to gain access to targets easier."

"My God! Those evil bastards," Sarah said.

"What happened to the children," Chuck asked.

"Well the children faced many of the same issues that plagued the intersect project. Unfortunately the project was kept so secret the children were not able to get the help that they needed."

"What do you mean," Sarah asked.

Well they didn't have a patron saint like Steven Bartowski to help them. Most of the children experienced severe psychological problems, which left them incapacitated. The program was scrapped, until Graham found out about it."

"Graham took it over?"

"Yes. He revived it in secret in the hopes of producing his so-called super agents, but he failed. Once your mother found out about it Charles, she was able to get the information needed to end it. It was what led to their falling out and Graham's new breed of the program was scrapped."

"How was he able to keep his job? The son of a bitch should have been put in jail," Sarah said.

"The program did manage to produce two viable, highly successful agents. Graham was able to parlay that to his advantage and was able to keep his job," Hartley said.

"How could that be? You said they all the children were incapacitated," Sarah asked.

"Charles's father was brought into to try to help the children, but by the time he was brought in it was too late. He was only able to help two of them, your friend Bryce Larkin was one of them."

"Bryce," Sarah said with a shock.

"Then that means that...,"

"It means the Bryce was not merely in Chuck's life to be his friend.

Graham put him there," Hartley said.

"But why?"

"Because Graham has been secretly looking for the key to the intersect for 20 years. Using his limited success at developing agents from the Paidi project, he finally got his name on the project, and now wanted to ensure that it worked. He saw first hand with Paidi, how the psychological issues affected his recruits, and couldn't afford to let the same thing happen with the intersect. That's where you come in Chuck," Hartley said.

"He figured it out didn't he," Chuck said as he traced Hartley's thought progression.

"Figured what out," Sarah asked.

"He figured out that Chuck was the key. He had suspicions about you and your sister, and monitored you both. However once you were in high school, a pattern began to materialize in your ability to retain data, such that you developed an eidetic memory Charles."

"Wait lots of people have those," Chuck said.

"But most do not develop it at 8 years old," Hartley said.

"When he downloaded the intersect," Sarah said as she fit it all together.

"Exactly," Hartley replied.

"So once I entered Stanford then..,"

"Graham made his move. Bryce was assigned to be your roommate and gain your trust."

"But why have me thrown out of school? Wouldn't it make more sense to keep me around," Chuck asked.

"You must remember everything that Graham was doing was unauthorized. He had drawn a lot of attention to his activities by placing you under surveillance," Hartley said.

"Why," Chuck asked.

"Because it's against the law for the CIA to have a domestic surveillance operation going on," Sarah answered.

"Really?"

"Yes. Domestic operations are FBI and NSA territory," she replied.

"So he needed to end the surveillance because he could not justify it, therefore he had you expelled. Then after the attention wore off of him, he sent Larkin in to steal the intersect and send it to you, just so he

could confirm that you were whom he was looking for," Hartley said.

"But he knew that the intersect could kill Chuck," Sarah said defensively.

"It was a risk he was willing to take. If Charles survived he found his man, if he died..,"

"He didn't care," Sarah finished for him.

Chuck was quiet as he pondered the gravity of his situation. His entire life was defined by the intersect, and everything that he thought he knew before, now became muddled with doubts. A million images flashed in his mind, Ellie, Morgan and especially Sarah, all dead because of him. Graham would kill them all just to get to him. His heart broke as he looked at Sarah, she was the most important part of his life,

and he could never allow anything to happen to her, but he knew the type of person she was. She would stand by him to her end, and he could not accept that.

"Sarah this isn't worth it," he said softly.

"Chuck it will be ok. We will get through this," Sarah said as she hugged him.

"It's not ok Sarah! I'm a curse! How many lives have I ruined because of this stupid thing in my head. He is never going to stop coming after me," he said bitterly.

"It's not your fault...,"

"It is my fault Sarah! I just ruin people's lives. You would be better off without..,"

"Don't say that! Don't even think that," she said angrily.

"But at least you would live," Chuck said and immediately regretted it once he saw the hurt on her eyes.

He was quiet for a minute as he saw her sad eyes go white hot with anger. He knew that he screwed up, and he had to fix it. He realized as he looked into her eyes that she really was his life now, and life without her just wouldn't be an option for him.

"Sarah I'm sorry I don't want you to leave its just I'm scared about..,"

"Shut up," she said as she embraced him.

"You don't think I'm scared too," she whispered in his ear.

"I know I'm sorry. Life without you is not an option for me," he whispered back.

She knew him as well as he knew her, and although she told him she loved him before, she said the words that he needed to hear, the words that would let him know that everything would be ok.

"I'm never going to leave you Chuck. No matter what! I promise."

She held him tight as she felt him silently sob. It was the communication of commitment and acceptance without the need to say a word, and they knew that they would always be together.

"I'm sorry again Sarah," Chuck said.

"I know. But we will get through this."

"Of course you will," Hartley said.

"Oh sorry," Chuck said as he almost forgot about Hartley being there.

"No worries Charles. Nice to see two people so obviously right for each other, and to think some thought

it wouldn't work," he chuckled.

"What? Who thought it wouldn't work," Chuck asked.

"Diane," he said.

"You mean?"

"General Beckman. She thought that Sarah wouldn't work given her history," Hartley said.

"Wait what history? What are you talking about," Sarah asked.

"Yes, Beckman was against any relationship between us," Chuck added.

"God all this relationship drama gives me a headache. I can't imagine what it's done to the two of you."

"What are you talking about," Chuck said.

"Charles you have been the most hunted man on the face of the earth. Graham has indirectly created two separate secret organizations to get to you and yet you still managed to survive. All because of Agent Walker here," Hartley said.

"I know that, what's your point," Chuck said.

"Two? I only know about Fulcrum," Sarah interrupted.

"The other one was..,"

"Paidi," Chuck finished.

"Yes Charles. Very good."

"My point is Charles that Graham used Larkin to get to you, and in order to keep you safe we needed to send someone to protect you," he said.

"We?"

"Beckman consulted with me on who would be the best to send, as I have kept my eye on you and your sister as a promise to your parents."

"Casey? Casey was your choice! You could have..,"

"No, Casey was assigned to watch over my choice," he said while he looked at Sarah.

"You chose me? How? I was assigned by Graham," she said.

"Yes, but you were my choice," he said.

"Wait, I was recruited specifically by Graham. He is the only one I ever worked for," Sarah said.

"Sarah, you may not realize it right now, but I've known you for a very

long time," he said.

"How? I just met you," she said.

"Yes but that doesn't mean that we never met. Let's just say that you don't remember meeting me," he said.

"I don't remember meeting you? That doesn't make any sense," she said.

"It does given what they did to you," he replied.

"What they did to me? Who?"

"What the hell are you talking about," Chuck asked.

"Icarus," Hartley said.

"Icarus what does that..oh my God Sarah," Chuck yelled as he saw her eyes roll back in her head and her body begin to shake.

"Oh my God she is flashing," he yelled.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I don't own or make any $ from Chuck

Embassy parties in Washington DC are always one of highlights of government service, and often prove to be a fertile playground for intelligence agencies. This particular party was being held at the Russian consulate in celebration of a new American, Russian and German mining collaboration. The expanding American technology market required an increase in the supply of precious metals needed to build newer computers. This led to the opening of 3 new German facilities across Russia to mine their vast trove of natural resources, which would employ thousands of Russians for generations to come.

It was a political "win-win" situation for all those involved, and one that each countries politicians, were eager to exploit. The party was a typical DC feeding frenzy, with the Americans supplying their finest money men, Germans supplying their finest spirits, and the Russians supplying their finest "female graduate students."

Deputy secretary Hans Garber was milling about the bar, trying to decide which lovely Russian " graduate student" to take home for the evening, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hello Hans," Beckman said.

"Well Diane. I hardly recognize you," he said.

"Well I thought the occasion called for it," Beckman said as she wore a light blue evening gown, with a healthy showcase of her legs.

"I must say you do look different without the uniform. I never knew you had such legs," he smiled.

"Well you never were good enough to get to see them."

"I'm sure. So what brings you here tonight? Surely not the atmosphere," he said.

"No. I would appreciate a minute of your time, before you begin you "tutoring" session for the evening," she said as she took his arm and led him to a dark corner of the room.

"Come now Diane. They are students. We were students once," he chuckled.

"Not like them," she said as they reached a secluded section.

"So Hans ...,"

"Before you ask, the answer is no."

"Now Hans why do we have to start off so negatively. I have not even asked you anything yet," she said.

"Please Diane let's not waste each other's time. You and I both know what this is about. It is amazing that you let that basses live for so long. Just another display of not having your house in order," Garber said.

"I am in agreement with you, but I think you might be misreading the situation. I'm not here to ask if you have had any American imports lately, you and I both know that you haven't."

"Then what are you doing here Diane?"

"I'm here to tell you to stay out of it."

"Oh please Diane we have no interest in..."

"No more games Hans! We are operating under a new policy and any assistance or comfort given to an enemy of our country will be dealt with severely and decisively."

"Is this supposed to be a threat?"

"No Hans. This is professional courtesy. We still need our friends, but let's just say that the friends of our enemies will now official be our enemies as well."

"Well it seems this new administration has a different view of the world," Garber said.

"That would be correct and it's about time. Leading from behind never works. Just ask Neville Chamberlain."

"Low blow Diane," Garber replied.

"Listen Hans. I always liked you, but this is more important than either of us. Just take care of yourself," she said as she turned to leave.

"Diane," he called.

"Yes?"

"I appreciate your concern. Rest assured that I am your friend, and will make sure to let you know if I hear of any special imports from America."

"You're a good man Hans," she said as she left.

Garber slowly swirled his drink and though about the ramifications of the new policy. Graham was now radioactive, and nothing he could do, or classified information he would be able to reveal, would be able to change that. Diane would have known the Russians would have cameras here, and their entire conversation would be recorders, so she effectively just told the Russians the same thing. He suddenly lost interest in any female accompaniment, and quickly picked up his phone.

"Have the car out front in 5 minutes. Then alert the embassy that I need to get to Berlin. Yes tonight," he said as he hung up his phone and headed for the entrance.

Garber was suddenly flush as he thought about what hell the Americans could unleash upon their enemies. He had read some of the Intel reports about what they had, and what they were trying to design, but most of that data was years old. The terrifying thought to him was what could they have now?

###########################################################

Graham was waiting for his contact in a nice little alpine cafe just outside of town. He was enjoying a caffè crema, a Swiss twist on an espresso next to a roaring fire, when a distinguished looking older man in finely tailored suite sat down next to him.

"How is the coffee?

"You're late," Graham said as he put his cup down.

"Occupational hazard I'm afraid," the man answered in English with the hint of a Russian accent.

"I've been waiting here for over 20 minutes," Graham growled.

"And yet you are still here, so obviously you need my help. So what do you want me to do," the man asked.

"Can you kill this person," Graham said as he slid him a picture.

The man turned it over and looked at it for a second, before slowly tossing it in the fire.

"Yes," the man simply said.

"What is your price?"

"If I take this job I will have to disappear forever," he said.

"Understood," Graham replied.

"200 million. Half now, half on completion," the man said. Graham swallowed hard as he heard the man's number. He expected it to be large, but nothing like this; however he was backed into a corner and he knew it.

"Ok," Graham said.

"Once I get confirmation of the first deposit the operation will begin. If at any point the operation is compromised I will decide whether or not to continue. In either case the deposit is nonrefundable."

"I understand."

"How many people know about this?"

"Just us."

"Good. No one else must know. Keep hidden until after the event. Understand," the man said as he got up to leave.

"I understand. Do I use the same account?"

"Yes. I'll be in touch," the man said as he left.

Graham involuntarily shivered as he thought about what he had just done. Even a few years ago he never would have contemplated such a move, but things had changed. If they were going to come after Langston Graham, then he was going to go after them.

Sarah lay still as memories long suppressed, suddenly began to visualize in her brain. She could hear voices echo, but she couldn't detect where they were coming from, as she struggled to open her eyes.

 _...k? ..n you hear me?"_

 _"Are you ok? Can you hear me?"_

 _She felt someone nudge her shoulder, she true to move her arms but they felt like they were tied together. After struggling to pull herself awaken, finally opened her eyes and saw a kind faced woman, gently stroking her cheek._

 _"Are you ok? Can you hear me," she said as he looked at her with eyes of full of concern._

 _"Yes," Sarah replied._

 _"Over here! I've got one," the woman yelled._

 _"It's ok sweetheart. We are going to get you out of here," she said as she began to remove her restraints._

 _"What do you have," a familiar voice called from behind._

 _"A little girl. The bastard had her strapped into a bed."_

 _"My God the man is a monster! How is she doing," the voice said as it got closer._

 _"She is freezing. We need to get her out of here and get her to Steven as soon as possible."_

 _"I'll take her," the voice said now very close to her._

 _"No I'll do it," the woman said._

 _"Mary. You are too close. He is your old partner and keeps tabs on you, and if he finds out that Steven might be able to help these children then God knows what he will do. Think about Charles!"_

 ** _Charles...Charles...Charles...Charles..._**

 _"Besides I'm dead anyway. Remember," the voice laughed._

 _"No you are right. Just take good care of her Hartley. Please."_

 ** _Hartley...Hartley...Hartley...Hartley_**

 _"As if she were my own," he said as he a gathered her in his arms. The woman leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead._

 _"Don't be afraid sweetheart. We are going to help you," she said._

 _"Well my dear shall we be off," Hartley said as he looked down at her._

 _"What's your name luv," he asked._

 _"I don't...I ..don't...I remember it," she moaned._

 _"That's ok. Why don't I call you after my mother? The most honorably lady I know. Her name is Sarah. Sound good?"_

 _"Ah..huh."_

 _"Splendid. Now Sarah let's get you out of here," he said as she was whisked away_.

Suddenly she was in a room lying down in a bed, and could hear the voices again.

 _"How does she look?"_

 _"I'm not sure yet. It looks like whatever they were giving these kids really did a number on their brains."_

 _"Can you help her?"_

 _"I'll do my best, but she is in pretty rough shape."_

 _"Can you do the same thing you did with me?"_

 _"No. Your problem was caused by the introduction of an actual device into your brain. Her trauma looks to be pharmaceutical induced. She actually looks to be going through some type of withdraw, I mean her brain functions read like that of an addict," he said._

 _"They drugged these kids?"_

 _"It appears that way. She is going to have to fight through the physical symptoms as well. Poor girl," he said._

 _"She will do it. This girl is a fighter Steven."_

 _"Why do you say that?"_

 _"Just a feeling..."_

 ** _Steven...Steven...Steven...Steven..._**

Her mind flashed to her next memory. She was lying in a bed and could see a man and a young boy outside her room. They were talking softly but she could still hear them.

 _"How much longer dad, "the boy asked._

 _"I don't know Charles. This little girl needs help and right now it's more important that I help her then going to the arcade," the man said._

 _"But dad I..,"_

 _"Ok fine. No computer for a month."_

 _"But dad..,"_

 _"2 months!"_

 _"That's not..,"_

 _"3 months!"_

 _"Ok!"_

 _"Good. Now just wait out here and I will be back in a minute. Wait a minute, why do you smell like strawberries? Did you use your sisters shampoo again?"_

 _She smiled as she heard the exchange, there was something about the boy that seemed to make her smile. She had no idea who he was, and he seemed to be very shy, but there was something about him that she liked._

 _"Hi Sarah. How are you feeling today? Do you remember me? My name is Steven," he said._

 _"Hi. Yes I remember you. I'm doing ok. Can I go home soon?"_

 _"Very soon. We just need to run a few more tests on you and then you will be A-OK. I just need you to wear this for a few minutes, "he said and put a little adhesive patch on the side of her head near her temple._

 _The boy was sheepishly peeking through the door at the exchange between his father and the girl on the bed. He was just about at that age when girls became much more interesting, and soon forgot about the arcade, and found himself very interested in her._

 _"Good girl. I need to run outside for a bit, but I'll be back soon," he said as he noticed her discomfort about being left alone._

 _He looked over his shoulder and saw his son duck when his turned in his direction, seemingly embarrassed about being seen by his father._

 _"Charles make yourself useful and come in here," he said and turned his attention back to Sarah._

 _"I would like to introduce you to my son Charles. Charles come over here," he said as a shy boy appeared in the doorway._

 _"Hi," she said._

 _"Charles say hello to Sarah," Steven said._

 _"Hi," he said shyly._

 _"Sarah Charles will keep you company when I'm gone. Do you know how to play chess," he asked as he spotted Chuck's chessboard on the windowsill in his office._

 _"No."_

 _"That's ok. Charles will teach you. Isn't that right Charles," he said._

 _"Yes," he said with all the enthusiasm of someone headed to the gallows._

 _"Ok I'll be back in a bit. You two have fun," he said as he left the room._

 _The boy reluctantly approached her with a chessboard and began to set up the pieces on the side of her bed. They were both very shy, and neither one spoke as he set up the board, almost as if waiting for the other to break the silence. Finally almost done the set up, Chuck broke the silence._

 _"Do you want to be black or white?"_

 _"I don't know? What's the difference?"_

 _"Nothing really. Just white gets to move first," he said._

 _"I'll be white," Sarah said._

 _"Of course," the boy chuckled._

 _Sarah was very shy by nature, and her current situation did nothing but heighten her nerves and uneasiness, but there was something about him. It was almost an involuntary feeling of relaxation she felt as she watched him with the chess pieces._

 _"Uh Charles...I..,"_

 _"Chuck. You can call me Chuck," he said as he moved the board around so she could access it._

 ** _Chuck…Chuck…Chuck…Chuck…._**

 _"Ok Chuck. I don't know how to play?"_

 _"That's ok I will show you. How old are you" he asked._

 _"I'm..I well I'm not sure," she said._

 _"You don't know how old you are?"_

 _"I guess not," she said fumbling for a response._

 _"Why not? Didn't you ever have a birthday party with your friends?"_

 _"Ah I ah...I uhm...I don't know. I don't really have any friends I guess," she said and could feel herself getting more frustrated for not being able to remember anything about her life, causing her to cry._

 _Chuck saw her eyes well up and really felt bad for her, and instantly wanted to make her stop crying. The problem was he didn't know what to do to make her feel better, so he just began to ramble._

 _"Hey its ok look birthdays aren't that big of a deal..and friends..I don't..well I have one Morgan but..mainly I have my sister..but she always busy..so I play with myself a lot...or by myself a lot," Chuck said beat red._

 _Sarah couldn't help it, she started smiling at his response and instantly felt a warm feeling of happiness begin to come over her. She could even detect the slight scent of strawberries._

Hartley was monitoring the readout of the instruments in the observation room when Steven walked in.

"Well your plan is working Steven."

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever you did to her is causing all of these crazy readouts to settle down," he said pointing to the monitors.

The last few days had been rough for Sarah. She was extremely frightened and frustrated at not being able to remember anything about her ordeal. The preliminary scans he took of her when she came in, looked very much like Hartley's before the governor had been applied. In short Sarah's brain looked to be collapsing into insanity.

Trying to find what could be causing this, Steven poured over the data from Chuck's brain scan after he downloaded the intersect like a man possessed, looking for any similarity that he could apply to Sarah. He was focused specifically on the neocortex and the amygdalae, the parts that control logic and fear respectively, when he noticed the anomaly. He noticed in Chuck's scans that after he had downloaded the intersect, the amygdalae, the part of the brain that is involved with fear processing, was showing a heighten end sense of activity. When he compared the image to Sarah's when Hartley first brought her to him, he noticed some shocking differences.

Whereas Chuck's amygdalae was operating with a slight increase of activity, Sarah's was off the charts. She seemed to be processing every action as a fear response. He went over the chemical analysis of the drugs they found in her system and came to a rather savage conclusion. The drugs that they were exposing the children to in the program, were targeting their fear response. In essence they were to destroy their sense of fear, but something was going terribly wrong. The drug seemed to target that area by over stimulation, producing the opposite of the desired effect, it was causing paranoia.

His latest test that he was intending to preform today, would be aimed at trying to control the stimulation of that region, but something had dramatically changed. Since she had been talking with Chuck her fear processing was virtually nonexistent, almost as if her entire amygdalae had ceased to exist. Now her brain scans looked like a new girl, the hyper activity had stopped and neural functionality was almost back to normal.

"That's odd, I haven't done anything yet," Steven said while looking at the monitor.

"What does that mean," Hartley asked.

"I have no idea," Steven replied as he looked at the two talk on the surveillance monitor.

"She looks to be doing better," Hartley said.

"She is doing better. It's like night and day," Steven said.

"How is it happening? Is it just wearing off?"

"No. Brain trauma doesn't just magically get better. I don't know what's happening, but her brain is clearly working normally again."

"No medication was given correct," he asked Hartley.

"I have her secured Steve. Nobody knows about her, just like nobody knows about Chuck," Hartley said.

"Chuck?"

Suddenly Steven's mind went into overdrive as he remembered something about his son's initial brain scan after downloading the intersect.

"Do you still have his files in the computer? Can you bring them up?"

"Yeah sure. Here you go," Hartley said as he typed a few buttons and an image of Chuck's brain came online.

"Ok go to the one marked 3123-chess," he said.

"Ok."

"This is the first one where he was playing chess with you. There hold that one," Steven yelled as he looked at the screen.

"Son of a bitch! I can't believe it!"

"Believe what? What are you looking at," Hartley asked.

"I can't believe it!...I need to go figure this out..watch the kids..," Steven said as he ran out the door.

"When will you be back," Hartley yelled after him.

"Soon!"

"What the hell is going on," he said as he looked back at the screen with the two children playing.

 _"I don't understand. If this piece can move all over the place why isn't it the most important," she said holding the queen._

 _"The queen is the most important," he replied._

 _"But then why isn't the game over when you capture the queen," she asked._

 _"Because the object of the game is to capture the king," he replied._

 _"I don't get it. I like the queen the best," she said as she held up the white queen._

 _"It's my favorite piece."_

 **Favorite piece...favorite piece...favorite piece**.

"We need to get her some help," Sarah heard a very agitated Chuck say as she began to come back to the present.

"She is going to be alright," Hartley said calmly.

"The hell she …,"

"Chuck!"

"Sarah? Are you ok? Speak to me," he said as he cradled her face.

"I'm…I'm…ok…I'm good," she said as she hugged him tight.

"Welcome back Sarah. I will give you two a minute," Hartley said as he got up to leave.

"Don't go," she said to chuck as she felt him try to break their embrace.

"I liked it better when your hair smelled like strawberries," she whispered.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I have so much to tell you," she whispered.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N Don't own nor make any $ from Chuck_

Langston Graham never took an accounting class. Koslov's death was a bit of an impediment, but in truth, it barely slowed him down. He figured that they would target the funding source of his operation first, and therefore he had taken steps to set up an emergency fund. However his fund was not enough to cover his "bold maneuver" and he was forced to do some creative accounting. Graham was many things, but a banker he was not. Forced into using accounts that he had long since vanished from the government payrolls, he managed to scrape up enough to cover his operation, but the increased activity of the dormant accounts would not go unnoticed. Satisfied that his plan was at least in motion, he prepared to move to his secondary location. He was a rational man and knew sooner or later Beckman would be knocking on his door, but he had an ace up his sleeve, the assassin just needed to come through.

Howard Pressely stared at the clock and even though it was approaching 7pm, just couldn't bring himself to leave. It was late on a Friday afternoon, and the 47 year old account at the OPM was trying to finish the governmental financial reconciliations, before over 20 million pay checks went out to the government employees. He was the final reviewer before processing, and often times it required him to earn those credit hours by staying long after his colleagues had left for the evening.

Ordinarily he wouldn't mind staying that much, especially because his wife was having her book club meeting, and the thought of dealing with a flock of sauced up housewives was less than appealing, but tonight there was an anomaly with the available funds, and he couldn't figure out why. There were a multitude of transfers between different accounts with sums totaling 50 million dollars, and all of the money was then deposited into a private off shore account. The account was listed as a department of agriculture controlled account, which made absolutely no sense to him.

 _Why would AG need 50 million right away like that? Or better yet why would they have an offshore account at all…._ he thought.

Sensing that he might just have given himself a working weekend, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hi honey how is your party going," he said to the voice that answered.

From the sound of things, everything was going swimmingly at home, so he told his wife he would be home later, and signed off, just as the singing began.

"Ok. Let's see where this trail leads," Pressely said as he began to track the money.

"Mr. Faust? Mr. Faust," a young lady asked as she looked around the ornate lobby.

"Oh yes. Sorry I must have dozed off," a slightly grey haired man said as he got up from a very comfortable looking leather chair.

"Understandable sir," she smiled sweetly as she looks around the luxurious lobby of The Canterbury Investment Corporation. The interior of the building was in stark contrast to the rather pedestrian looking exterior.

Like many things at Canterbury, this was by design to avoid any unwanted attention. The exterior was simple a facade. A spartan design rising just 3 stories, camouflaged the 9 subterranean floors where the majority of the activity took place.

"Your vault is ready sir. Please follow me," she said.

"Certainly," he replied as he got up and followed her to the elevator, which would take him to the vault room.

"It's been a few years since you were here Mr. Faust. I trust you are finding the renovations satisfactory," she asked over her shoulder, knowing full well that his eyes had never left her behind.

"Very much so," he replied.

"Well if there are anything you desire please let me know. We want to ensure you are completely satisfied," she winked at him.

Canterbury Investment Corporation was officially listed as a nonprofit debt consolidation firm, with each client essentially being "bankrupt." It had offices in various low income areas throughout the country, offering free credit consolidation and debt relief.

In reality, it was essentially a large multinational bank that is legendary for desertion when it comes to their clients. The firm catered specifically to the ultra-elite, offering an advanced level of privacy and security that is unrivaled.

The few false fronts that were in place through the world were only for appearances, offering low income debt consolidation. Those little strip mall store fronts were literally a world away from the palatial palaces that their wealthy clientele would keep their finances, free of any governmental regulation or interference. Membership in such an exclusive bank came with its benefits, but it also came with great expense.

Clients were required to keep a minimum balance of 50 million dollars, and were charged a premium of 10% of the total account value. This was viewed as money well spent, as the bank enabled many less than reputable entities to house their money with no questions asked.

"Spend as much time as you need Mr. Faust," the pretty lady said as the elevator doors opened and Faust got on.

"Thank you very much," Faust said as the door closed.

"Are you ok?"

"I don't know. We met before? I mean.,"

"Chuck I swear I didn't remember meeting you until I just went into some kind of a...,"

"Flash."

"A flash? That was a flash?"

"Yes. How dos you feel," he asked.

"I'm a bit dizzy and my head hurts like hell," she said.

"Welcome to my world. Here is your mouth dry," he said as he handed her a bottle of water.

"Yes. Thank you," she said as she downed the water.

"Are you ok," he asked.

"Yeah I think so. Is that what you go through every time?"

"Yeah."

"My god that must be terrible," she said as she looked at him with concern.

"You get used to it," he said.

"She won't have to. She doesn't have an intersect," Hartley interrupted.

He had returned to the room after giving them a few minutes to sort out some emotions, and found them still wrapped up in each other's arms. He admired their dedication to each other, and considering the information that Chuck had just received, he almost expected to see anger, tears, or feelings of betrayal surface, but all he saw was the true meaning of trust. Rather than fall into the selfish trap of feeling setup, or that the emotions they had for each other were somehow a product of external manipulation, both Chuck and Sarah understood that the source of their strength came from one another. Their feelings for each other were real, and they would need them to get through this.

"How are you doing," Hartley asked.

"We're doing fine," Sarah said resting her head on Chuck's chest.

"And you Charles?"

"I'm ok. I'm just having more than a little trouble trying to process all of this right now."

"It's understandable, but I'm afraid that we must get moving soon. Wouldn't you agree Sarah," Hartley asked.

"Yes. We need to keep a schedule. Chuck you need to get dressed," Sarah said as she reluctantly broke his embrace.

"What? Now?"

"Yes Chuck. Graham will soon figure out that his hit squad has been dispatched and will be coming for you again. Now I have transportation lined up for..,"

"If I may Sarah," Hartley interrupted.

"I took the liberty of procuring some new transportation. It's here now," Hartley said as there was a rumble outside.

"What the hell is that," Sarah asked as she looked out the window and saw a plane seeming to hover above the ground.

"That's our ride. Shall we," he said as he went outside and the levitating plane dropped softly 50 yards from the hanger.

"Sarah is that a VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) jet?"

"Yes I think it is."

Once the plane was down, a door popped open and a man in a dark suite came down and approached Hartley. The others had made their way out of the hanger by now and we're able to hear the tail end of their conversation.

"We are ready for you sir. All the required material is on board."

"Very good. Please help Charles aboard," Hartley said as he pointed at Chuck.

"Certainly sir," the man said and then ran up to Chuck.

"Mr. Bartowski, Agent Walker my name is Joseph Frye. I will be assisting you today. I have very much looked forward to meeting you both," the man said in a decidedly cockney accent.

"Thank you Mr. Frye. Our situation is..," Sarah began.

"Please call me Joseph. Your plane is ready Mr. Bartowski and I have been advised of your situation and have everything ready for you. Now if you will all follow me please, we must get moving," he said as he took Sarah and Chuck's bags and headed for the plane.

"Wait! What do you mean everything ready for us?"

"I have your father's message ready for you," he replied from over his shoulder.

"My father's message? I don't understand," Chuck replied as Frye continued toward the plane.

"I'm sorry sir but time is of the essence. Your plane is ready for takeoff."

"What do we do," Chuck asked Sarah with more than a bit of confusion on his face.

"I guess we get on the plane," Sarah replied.

The elevator descended swiftly and within 15 seconds the doors opened to a long white corridor which contained 4 garage sized doors, equally spaced down the length of the floor. Standing in the middle of the floor was a man dressed in a fine black suit.

"Hello Mr. Faust. I will escort you to your vault. Please spend as much time as you need," the man said.

"Thank you," Faust said as he followed.

They walked down the corridor to the last door on the left, and a terminal which held the security lock for the door. The guard waited for Faust to enter his code, and once the screen went green, turned and left him.

He entered a different 7 digit code and the door silently opened to a brightly lit interior, which looked more like an office, than a bank vault. The door silently closed behind him as Faust sat down on a plush leather chair, behind a large mahogany desk, which held a rather ancient looking terminal. Faust entered a few digits into the terminal and checked on his balances.

After ensuring that Grahams deposit was in his account, he went about formulating his plan for his kill. He was a veteran of over 30 years in a profession that does not allow mistakes, so to say he was a meticulous in his preparation, was an understatement. The walls of his vault were filled from floor to ceiling his trove of gear from different jobs, and stirred a sense of nostalgia. This would be the final job of his career, and the biggest mark he ever hunted. He was a man who loved his job, and though he had over 50 confirmed kills, no ghosts or demons haunted his dreams. He was devoid of any sense of humanity, and felt no emotion at all for his targets; he was a man who lived for the hunt, the kill was almost sad for him, because it meant the end of the hunt. He had used many names in the past, but he smiled as he thought of his current one.

 _Faust..as good a name as any_ he thought as he realized the irony, and began the arduous process of selecting the correct method for the assassination.

The security of the target would dictate the method, and in this case, a rifle was too conspicuous, and a bomb would most likely be detected. The target that he was going after would be the most heavily guarded in the world, so physical security would dictate that any long range attack would be impossible. He smiled as he thought of the ramifications; his final job would be his most challenging. His years of experience and training would be tested to the limit with this mission, but he loved it _._ He thought to himself, _his final act would be his best_.

The plane was luxurious, with open seating for about 20 people. Sarah and Chuck sat together with Alberto and Selma across from them. Hartley sat alone on the side, engrossed in his phone at the moment. Frye hurried everyone on board and, and 10 minutes later they were airborne.

"This is some setup. What kind of leather is this," Alberto said.

"Full grain I would imagine," Hartley said.

"Very nice. Is it Italian?"

"Alberto!"

Looking over to his wife he could feel her eyes flashing like lasers to tell him to shut up.

"I really don't know," Hartley replied.

A few minutes later, Joseph's voice came on over a monitor and told them that they had reached their cruising altitude.

"Now Charles and Sarah," Hartley said as he got out of his chair.

"I believe it's time for your father's message. If you both would follow me to the back of the plane," he motioned.

They followed him to a little room in the back of the plane which contained a bed and a flat screen monitor. After hitting a few buttons on a consul, a grainy image of Steven Bartowski appeared.

"Hello Charles. If you are watching this then it means that something happened that I was not able to protect you from, and you must be feeling very confused. I know that you have many questions right now, and I'm sorry that I am not there to answer them for you. I also assume that if you are watching this then Sarah is there with you and I feel good about that."

"There is much I need to tell the both of you, but unfortunately this tape will not be able to answer many of your questions. I can only tell you that we did this for your protection. Your mother, Hartley and I all knew that if Graham ever found out about you two then you would never be safe."

"I'm going to tell you both a story, and it's very important that you listen carefully. By know you know that you have met before, and you probably gathered that I suppressed your memories so that you both would forget. What you don't know is why I did it, but it is time that you both know the real story."

"I don't understand," Sarah said as she stopped the tape.

"What is he talking about," she said looking at Hartley.

"Just watch Sarah. You will find out."


End file.
